In the late 1800s, NSW and Victoria were separate colonies, each with its own government, customs regulations and import duties.
For residents of Corowa and Wahgunyah, who lived on opposite sides of the Murray River but shared workplaces, businesses, family connections and social lives, the colonial border was a daily inconvenience.
Sir Edmund Barton recognised the dissatisfaction among residents over the issue during a visit in 1892, and the situation came to a head in April 1893. Barton later became Australia’s first Prime Minister when Federation formed in 1901.
According to historian Bruce Pennay, Wahgunyah customs officer Frank Smith decided to lock the border gate each evening because he didn’t have an assistant to watch it overnight.
This decision caused resentment among residents, who were already inconvenienced by a border restriction between two towns that were effectively one community.
Federation leagues had already begun forming along the Murray River and the locked gate gave the movement further momentum.
The Berrigan Federation League subsequently called for a conference in Corowa, bringing together representatives of the newly established Federation Leagues.
The rest is history, and the incident became a powerful example of unnecessary divisions created by having separate colonial governments.
Source: Bruce Pennay – Corowa's YES to Federation.
