 The Act was introduced as a result of recommendations by a British Parliamentary Enquiry into the failure of the colonial administration which had brought the province of South Australia near bankruptcy in 1840, and gave the British Government full control of South Australia as a Crown Colony.Land speculation, economic recession and inept administration combined to cause the Wakefield scheme to fail, and the Province was brought close to bankruptcy in 1840.A British Parliamentary Enquiry recommended a more orthodox form of colonial administration to replace the Colonisation Commissioners.