28 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT [PART 1
Victoria at once proceeded to appoint a committee to frame
a constitution, and a Bill was passed through the Council
and sent home for approval. Like the New South Wales Bill,
it embodied measures for the creation of two Houses and
the provision of pensions for officers retiring through political
changes; it vested the appointment of non-political officers
in the Governor in Council, and contemplated responsible
government. But Victoria differed from New South Wales
in contemplating that the Upper House would be elective
and not nominee.
In South Australia the announcement of the determination
to grant responsible government was heartily welcomed, and
a Bill was prepared which passed the Legislative Council
as Act No. 3 of 1853, and was duly reserved for the significa-
tion of the royal pleasure. The Bill adopted the principle
of a bicameral legislature, and made the Upper Chamber
nominee ; in other respects it followed generally the model
of the New South Wales and Victoria laws, while a subsequent
Bill, No. 7 of 1853, granted a Civil List and made provision
for the pensions of officers retiring on political grounds.?
All three Bills, that of New South Wales, that of Victoria,
and that of South Australia, were now in the hands of the
Imperial Government, but the Secretary of State, in a dis-
patch of July 3, 18543 explained to the various Colonies
that there had not been time to deal with the questions
involved in that session of Parliament, all three Bills con-
taining admittedly clauses which required the alteration of
oxisting Imperial Acts.
Tasmania had lagged behind, but on August 25, 18534
the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir W. Denison, addressed the
Secretary of State with a suggestion that responsible govern-
ment should be allowed in its fullness to the Colony, and the
Legislative Council also desired the change. The Duke of
Newcastle, in a dispatch of January 30, 1854.5 asserted that
the Imperial Government were prepared to concede respon-
' Parl. Pap., August 10, 1854, pp. 100 seq. * Ibid., pp. 131 seq.
Ibid., p. 63. * Ibid., p. 162.
Ibid., p. 166.
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