In the winter of 1889, Sir Henry Parkes, the longest serving Premier of New South Wales and the grand patriarch of Austrlian politics, has a vision splendid to federate the colonies and create one nation.
After floundering in the depths of the 1890s Depression, the quest for federation is revived. Some now realise that creating a nation will require the determination of the people.
For years, all attempts at federation had been defeated, but in 1897 the "men with beards" make another bid to bring the colonies together. Unification seems within reach, but some colonies still hold out for a better deal.