The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Act 1904 (Cth) was an Act of the Parliament of Australia, which established the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration, besides other things, and sought to introduce the rule of law in industrial relations in Australia.
The Commonwealth’s power to make the law is based on section 51(xxxv) of the Constitution, which gives the Commonwealth power to make laws "in relation to conciliation and arbitration for the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes extending beyond the limits of any one state".
In July 1903, Kingston resigned suddenly from the Deakin government in a fit of anger over the opposition of John Forrest and Edmund Barton to an extension of conciliation and arbitration to British and foreign seamen engaged in the Australian coastal trade.
The scope of the legislation was very controversial at the time, resulting in changes of governments of Alfred Deakin (Protectionist), Chris Watson (Labour), and George Reid (Free Trade).
In April 1904, Watson and Deakin fell out over the issue of extending the scope of the Conciliation and Arbitration Bill to cover state public servants.