Editing Hal Colebatch (section)

===Western Australia===
Gold was discovered at [[Coolgardie, Western Australia]], in 1892 and at the nearby town of [[Kalgoorlie]] the following year. This triggered a [[Western Australian gold rushes|gold rush]] in the colony of [[Western Australia]], which had been an economic backwater up until that point. Meanwhile, waning demand for silver combined with a general economic recession in eastern Australia hurt the prosperity of Broken Hill. The ''Silver Age'', by then known as the ''Broken Hill Age'', was on the verge of collapse and the payment of Colebatch's wages had become irregular. Colebatch was ready to leave Broken Hill when in 1894, he received a letter from his friend [[Sidney Hocking]] saying that he had just purchased the ''[[Western Argus]]'', Kalgoorlie's weekly newspaper, and wanted Colebatch to take his place at the ''Golden Age'' in Coolgardie. Colebatch left for Western Australia later that year.{{sfnm|Colebatch|2004|1pp=26–27|De Garis|1962|2pp=4–5}} Upon arriving in [[Fremantle]], he had made just enough money gambling to catch the train to [[Southern Cross, Western Australia|Southern Cross]], but he had to walk the remaining {{convert|180|km}} across the desert to Coolgardie instead of taking a coach,{{sfnm|Colebatch|2004|1p=29|De Garis|1962|2p=6}} arriving there in early 1895.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=30}}

Coolgardie soon died down as all the surface gold was taken, and Kalgoorlie overtook it to become the [[Goldfields (Western Australia)|Goldfields']] largest town.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=33}} The ''Golden Age'' burnt down in September 1895,{{sfnm|Colebatch|2004|1pp=32–33|De Garis|1962|2p=6}} and so Colebatch moved to Kalgoorlie to work with Hocking on the ''[[Kalgoorlie Miner]]'', a new daily newspaper.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=33}} In Kalgoorlie, he met his future wife, Mary Maud Saunders, born {{circa|1869}} in South Australia.<ref name="Parliament biography" />{{sfn|De Garis|1962|pp=6–7}} At the start of 1896, they moved to [[Perth]], the colony's capital city, for Colebatch to join the ''[[Morning Herald (Perth)|Morning Herald]]'' as its mining and chess editor.{{sfnm|Colebatch|2004|1p=36|De Garis|1962|2p=6}} He also became the Western Australian correspondent for the ''British Australasian'' and the ''[[Financial Times]]'' and the metropolitan correspondent for several regional newspapers.{{sfnm|Colebatch|2004|1p=36|De Garis|1962|2p=11}} Among the things he reported on was Premier [[John Forrest]]'s announcement of the [[Goldfields Water Supply Scheme]].{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=36}} Colebatch married Saunders on 29 April 1896 in [[St George's Cathedral, Perth]].<ref name="Parliament biography" />

In 1898, Colebatch was banned from the parliamentary press gallery for reporting on a supposed fistfight that had occurred between two [[Member of parliament|members of parliament]]. A police inspector who had been in [[Parliament House, Perth|Parliament House]] at the time had told the story to a journalist for the ''Morning Herald'', who then passed the story on to Colebatch who then telegraphed it to the ''Kalgoorlie Miner''. Later that day, Colebatch discovered that the story had been exaggerated and that it was merely a verbal disagreement. The telegraph office was closed by that time, and so the ''Kalgoorlie Miner'' on 23 September 1898 had printed the details of the supposed fist fight on its front page. Forrest was furious, and he attempted to have the publishers prosecuted for published libel. After that failed,{{sfnm|Colebatch|2004|1p=37|De Garis|1962|2pp=11–12}} Forrest discovered that Colebatch was the reporter who passed the story along, and he had Colebatch banned from the parliamentary press gallery. Colebatch was dragged out by the [[sergeant-at-arms]] on 19 October 1898, and the following day, Colebatch sent a letter that he intended to sue the sergeant-at-arms for assault.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=38}} After heavy media criticism, the ban was lifted and the police inspector was demoted and transferred.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=39}}

Colebatch became the state chess champion in 1898.{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=39}} By the late 1890s, the [[federation of Australia]] had become a major political issue. The ''Morning Herald'', which by this time Colebatch had become assistant leader-writer under [[Archibald Sanderson]], campaigned against federation. Colebatch was inspired by Sanderson's anti-federation arguments{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=40}} and became anti-federation himself,{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=41}} unusual for someone from eastern Australia.{{efn|The majority of people from eastern Australia, also known as [[Wikt:t'othersider|t'othersider]]s, that came during the gold rushes in the 1890s supported federation and the majority of people who had lived in Western Australia before that opposed federation.{{sfn|De Garis|1962|p=7}}}}{{sfn|De Garis|1962|pp=7–8}} Writing for the [[Royal Western Australian Historical Society]]'s ''[[Early Days (journal)|Early Days]]'' journal in 1951,{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=40}} Colebatch said that "Sanderson's anti-federal articles — from the Western Australian point of view — could be examined line for line [today] and proved to be an absolutely accurate forecast of what has happened to the State under federation." Sanderson was not ideologically opposed to federation but was against the terms with which Western Australia was going to enter, saying that "no words in a written constitution could protect a small state in a federation against larger and more powerful ones making policies against its interest."{{sfn|Colebatch|2004|p=41}} Western Australia ended up voting for federation in a [[1898–1900 Australian constitutional referendums|1900 referendum]], and so it became one of the six states of Australia on 1 January 1901.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Federation of Australia |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/history-of-parliament/federation/the-federation-of-australia/ |website=Parliamentary Education Office |access-date=26 January 2023}}</ref>