Queensland in World War I (1914)
In the first few weeks that followed the declaration of war, existing militia were deployed to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which attacked and occupied German New Guinea.
Wool production remained a major industry in 1914, boosted by sales to European countries preparing for the possibility of war.
A high percentage of the non-British immigrants were Russians, but rather than being farm labourers that Queensland required, many were political activists fleeing their home country.
Almost 20,000 Queensland workers withheld their labour, but the anti-union Denham government used its police force and special constables to contain the action in a series of violent confrontations.
[1] In late May 1893 the Australian press enthusiastically covered the local tour of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir-apparent of the Habsburg Empire.
On 29 July 1914, Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson received a cable from the British government stating that Australia should "adopt precautionary phase" for war with the "names of powers will be communicated later if necessary".
[6][7] The following morning, the British Secretary of State for the Colonies asked if vessels of the Australian Navy were available for the Admiralty, along with an expeditionary force of 20,000 men.
[8] Moreover, the Australian Constitution - formulated in 1901 - was silent on the matter of the declaration of war and did not denote who was responsible for deploying troops overseas.
This process whereby information was conveyed by both the King's representatives and the Prime Minister reflects the lack of clarity on who was responsible - the declaration of war was an unprecedented act for the new Commonwealth and its wider powers of defence and national security had yet to be tested.
Though the matter appeared to reside within the powers of the Governor-General, the Queensland government - led by Liberal Digby Denham - took the extraordinary measure of issuing its own proclamations in its role as a sovereign state.
Furthermore, the Queensland Constitution Act of 1867 properly did not refer to declarations of war - being concerned with the consolidation of laws relating to the new colony.
Sir Arthur Morgan - Lieutenant-Governor, the President of the Legislative Council and Vice-Admiral of the State of Queensland - issued an independent proclamation that war had broken out between His Majesty and the German Emperor and that all enemy shipping could be confiscated under the Prize Act of 1894.
[15] This Imperial legislation, amended in 1908 and effective in all British jurisdictions, was concerned with the property of declared enemies that could be rightfully claimed as war prize.
On 19 August, the Governor-General issued a proclamation under the Imperial Prize Courts Act regarding the outbreak of war with Austria and Hungary.
The subsequent Act was not popular with either end of the political spectrum; merchants and unions alike finding fault with its implementation.
[1] On the outbreak of war former British servicemen in Australia who had remained on their country's Reserve list were expected to join the armed services.
A small number of German passenger and merchant vessels in Queensland ports were not allowed to leave once war was declared.
[20][21] In Queensland, the most immediate physical impact of the war was the early mobilisation of the local militia forces - an action which went largely unnoticed.
[1] Patriotic feelings were also expressed by making direct contributions towards the welfare of fighting troops, or to the war effort generally.
