Immigration Restriction In Australia Essay

On the 1st of January 1901, six British colonies were legalised by the British parliament to govern as a part of the Australian Federation. With the legalisation of unification also held the birth of national independence of Australia. Under a federal system, powers were divided between a central government and several regional governments. Power was divided between the federal government and the governments of the six colonies, which were renamed 'states' by the Constitution. One of the first pieces of legislation passed in the new Federal Parliament was the Immigration Restriction Act. Now known as the infamous White Australia Policy. This immigration restriction made it significantly difficult for Asians and Pacific Islanders to migrate to Australia.

Australia…The Lucky Country, or so they thought. This act was racial, Australia were trying to create a white utopia, a paradox forged against the odds. Modern Australia is a multicultural Country, however, this wasn’t the plan, over 100 years ago, an act was put into place to create a White society. This was infuriating for the non – white and non – Europeans. This was called the Immigration Restriction act which is now known as the White Australian Policy (WAP). This changed the race of Australia’s face. In modern day Australia over 22 million people now live in this beautiful Country that has an equal society.

As the population of chinses immergents started to climb, they were starting to become apart of population statistics. If you were Chinese by birth and you were outside NSW, the governments of the other states took advantage of you and made you pay a special reentry

Australia was in a time of crisis during World War 2 (1945) when they were threatened by the Japanese invasions. Australia did not have a big population at that time resulting in not have a strong defence to protect Australia. The Department of Immigration that was created then strongly urged that Australia needed an increase in its population by at least 1% each year. They needed a plan to gain a huge population; they needed to populate or perish!

Asian Immigrants have gone from having a continuous restriction year to year then to becoming a major part of Australian society. However, since the policy of Integration in 1970 and the abolishment of the dictation test in 1958 Asians has had the opportunity to migrate to Australia. This has been continuous since that major change with more and more arriving every year. The changes in these policies were made as Australia was becoming a more multicultural society and the Asian Migration wave has altered Australia today by making Australia richer and more culturally diverse. Asian immigrants have also contributed to the change in the Australian Political Policies which has allowed Migrants to become more accepted into Australia. Because of this no changes should be made to these political

After WW2, the Labour Prime Minister, Ben Chifley, launched Australia’s largest immigration program ever. Along with the program, the catchphrase ‘Populate or Perish’ was widely used to imply that more immigrants, preferably white, were necessary to fight of the steady stream of Asian immigration. As part of Immigration policy, these immigrants were expected to assimilate – meaning that they had to give up their preceding culture and embody Australian customs. This was simple for those who come from Britain but was very much a difficult task for those few immigrants who were not of British descent.

A huge part of the aboriginal culture and heritage was based on family relationships but many of the children grew up without knowing this. The loss of Aboriginality affected the children when they were grown up to be adults, if they tried to move back to their family’s community they were not welcome because they didn’t know how to settle back into an aboriginals life style.

The White Australia policy introduced as the Immigration Restriction Act in 1901. The policy was about changing Australia 's population so that it was, like that of Great Britain. The act was passed by the federal government of Australia (Immi.gov.au, 2014). The policy was extremely supported and applauded by the public, with Prime Minister Hughes in 1919 stating “(this is) the greatest thing we have achieved” (Immi.gov.au, 2014).

1901 marked Federation of Australia and the Immigration Restriction Act which encompassed the White Australia policy which required all migrants to pass a dictation test before they could enter Australia. These laws were in place until 1958.

After The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was one of the first Acts passed by the Australian Parliament after Federation in 1901. The new law provided strict control over who could migrate to Australia. The White Australian Policy was not a single government proclamation but in fact

The immigration policy of Australia has been in a constant state of flux ever since Federation in 1901, when the first legislative piece, the Immigration Restriction Act, was introduced. The Immigration Restriction Act has become infamous in Australian history and throughout the world, more nefariously as the ‘White Australia Policy’. The White Australia Policy was Australia’s seemingly indestructible way of ensuring a White Australia. However, the immigration of European refugees after World War II, which aimed to defend the nation from Japanese invasion, challenged this policy. From 1901, Australia held a strong belief that coloured people, specifically Asians, were inferior and detrimental to the Australian way of life, and did all in it’s

53 “The Chinese Exclusion Act had a profound long-term impact on immigration policy. As the first law barring entry to people of a specific race or nationality, it served as a model for twentieth-century restrictions.” Edwards explains the beginnings of

Today Australia is known as a multicultural country who allows people from all over the world to migrate to Australia. People are definitely not allowed to our country only because of what religion or language they speak, and definitely not based on skin color. Well this was not the case 45 years ago. 45 years ago was when the government stopped the non European immigration policy, which better known as the White Australia Policy. It started in 1901 and ended in 1975. The policy lasted for 75 years. The White Australia policy was not a single government directive, but a series of acts with a common goal, to achieve and maintain a white, British national character. When the policy ended it was a very big turning point in the country because

Because of these tensions restrictions were placed on Chinese miners in the Victorian and New South Wales (NSW) governments. Leading politicians in NSW and Victoria believed there was no room for coloured people in the Australia of the future. When federation came these politicians pushed the Immigration Restriction Act to be passed. The act was commended by most Australian people. The intention of the policy was to create a homogenous population similar to that of Britain.

In 1952 the Immigration and Nationality Act was put into place to remove restrictions on Asian immigration but still upholding immigration quotas that were established with the Immigration Act of 1924 (Immigration). There was an amendment to this act in 1965. This act was written to rid the quotas of countries of origin.