Episode Two: The Sum of the Parts

The second episode focuses on the changing relationship between the Commonwealth and the States since Federation. The federal ideal of 1901 was one in which the powers of the States would balance those of the Commonwealth. This film explores how events such as two World Wars and the Depression eroded this ideal and allowed the power of the federal parliament to increase. But has this accumulation of power seen Canberra become too removed from the rest of Australia…?