Why did Western Australian gold-mining communities support federation?

The gold-mining communities in Western Australia supported the federation movement of the late 1890s primarily as a political tool to challenge the local government.

The goldfields were populated by a massive influx of migrants from the economically depressed eastern colonies who felt alienated by the policies of the long-serving premier, Sir John Forrest. These "young democrats" of the gold-mining communities found that Forrest’s liberal policies—which included a restricted property franchise for the Legislative Council—did not align with their interests. Consequently, they utilized the federation movement as a means of opposition, mounting a "separation for federation" campaign in 1899–1900 to bypass the local political establishment.1