 From the beginning of the British colonisation in 1788 and after Australia's federation in 1901, the Governor-General of Australia and the various state governors had been the official representatives of the British government, as well as the crown.Following the 1926 Imperial Conference and the subsequent Balfour Declaration an Australian, Isaac Isaacs, became Governor-General in January 1931.Being an Australian, it was felt in London he couldn't properly represent the British Government.