By the 1880s Australians were worried about the growing presence of the Germans and the French in the Pacific. Along with a growing Australian identity, this created the opportunity to start the first inter-colonial body, the Federal Council of Australasia, in 1885. This Federal Council could make laws on certain subjects, but did not have a permanent office, an executive, or its own source of income. New South Wales, the largest colony, would not take part.