Multiculturalism and the Benefits of Migration in Australia

I argue that the ideologies behind The Assimilation Policy were evident since the first white settlers had arrived in 1788. Since first contact, Aboriginal people’s values, customs, beliefs and traditional way of life began to erode. From the 1850s onwards, Aboriginal people were forced onto reserves, and then into towns and cities in the mid 20th century . Many people feared that the ‘Australian’ culture was being affected by immigrants. Since the early 1900s, there had been a ‘White Australia’ policy and assimilation was expected upon arrival. However, Aboriginal people did not immigrate, so their policy, dictated by the Australian States and Commonwealth Government was known as The Policy of Assimilation. Assimilation policies were supported by racist assumptions and represented by settler nationalist imperatives . In the 1950s, assimilation policies for Aboriginal people were supported by the

I believe that the two topics that I have chosen relate to each other in many ways. The racial tension came from the migrating races to Australia, and the issues that the Australians of the time had with the “new people”. The migration occurred because there was a growing business in a new country, there were more opportunities for trade and everyone wanted to try their luck on the gold fields. I found the migrating story’s from the Chinese to be more of an interesting theme. This is the same with the racial tension, the mass groups of Chinese were the main targets with the racism.

Australia’s first anti-terror laws were enacted in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11 (Prof Andrew Lynch 2010). In recent years, increasing Australian involvement in international conflict has seen these laws shift to accommodate alarming trends in home grown terrorism (Australian Security Intelligence Organisation 2014). Sydney’s 2014 terror raids prompted the most significant changes to Australia’s counter terrorism legislation in the last decade (Commonwealth of Australia Department of Defence 2015). Amendments granted law enforcement and intelligence agencies new and somewhat controversial powers, in the name of national security.

When European colonists settled in Australia they treated the Aboriginal people extremely different to that of their fellow white men. The Aboriginals were not seen as first class citizens through the European eye and as a result were victims of extreme oppressions and had nearly no rights or freedoms. Since then Aboriginal people have fought to be treated equally to the white men through various different ways. I will discuss the previous struggles faced by the Aboriginals, the Australian strife for equality and finally the level of success and degree of rights and freedoms given to Aboriginals in modern Australia.

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

Australia in terms of immigration, has had a poor history of dealing with people travelling into the country, shown in the beginning of hand picking the majority of Australia 's population. However as the decades have rolled on, whether it be forced or by choice, Australia has become looser and more free in access and treatment within the country and importantly, less discriminatory. In order to see these improvements, the start must be shown, in which is generally summarised by the White Australia Policy.

The white Australia policy was one of the first acts passed by the parliament in Australia, and called the Immigration Restriction Registration Act 1901. This aimed to rid Australia of ‘non-white’ migrants by restricting entry to the country, and deporting those of ‘undesirable migrants.’

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

INTO: The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 led to the limitation of non-European migration, which became known as White Australian Policy .In 1901, 98% of people in Australia were white. Australia wanted to remain a country of white people who lived by British customs. The essay aims at analyzing the racism of people in society are all different in many ways such as having a different skin color, different races, height, short, hair and religion. The report will be divided into six topic sentences which they are what racism is, why are people racist, where does racism come from, who experiences racism and what can be done to fight racism. And it will also explain the causes and effects of Racism.

To combat this the australian federal government (AFG) moved to enact immigration laws that would restrict the movement of non english migrants into australia. The “Pacific Islander Labourers Act” clearly outlined the conditions needed for migrants to stay in australia as having ties and or australian heritage e.g. marriage with a white citizen or settlement in Australia for more than 20 years. If these conditions were not met the government would have grounds to deport the individual. Another act, the “immigration restriction act” gave the government power in deciding who could enter the country. Under the new act the government could use their discretion much more and deny entry to the country based on perceived criminality, injury or illness.

As we enter the 21st century, complex issues such as terrorism, immigration, multiculturalism, and social cohesion have brought about a significant amount controversy and an abundance of emotive rhetoric within Australian society. The fact that these issues have been politicised around a number of elections has bought these matters to the forefront of public discussion, but rather than appealing to the publics sense of compassion, the issues have been approached

Australia is a settler nation which is now made up of many ethnic groups who share similar cultural traditions, common language, shared history and a shared identity (ABS, 2016). These groups contribute to what is referred to multiculturalism. Australia has a higher proportion of people born overseas than the US, Canada and the UK, with 49% of Australia’s population (or a parent) being born overseas (Census of Population and Housing, 2016). Compared to other Western nations, Australia has one of the most diverse immigration populations (Collins, 2013, p. 145). The meaning of multiculturalism in Australia has changed significantly over time. Today, Australia is a culturally and ethnically diverse country and therefore is a multicultural society. In terms of public policy, multiculturalism can be defined as policies and practices implemented by the Australian government that aim to manage cultural diversity to benefit the whole of society (Department of Social Services, 2014). Although Australia is a multicultural society, there are criticisms of public policy surrounding multiculturalism.

While there is little doubt that overall multiculturalism is convenient for Australia, there are a few disadvantages resulting from this policy such as the perpetual increase of racist tendencies amongst the population. This is due to a lack of anti-racism plans of

For the first six decades of Australia’s existence, policy was designed to marginalise the Aboriginal population, by increasing the British and British-descended population, in some cases deliberate exterminate of the Aborigine people occurred (Reynolds, 1987, pp. 52). However, post-World War II, Australia’s population had risen to seven and half million people, only 45 years after federation in 1901. From that point, a 2% growth was adopted, which involved a large-scale immigration program that continued on with the White Australia policy, until not enough migrants were coming from north-west Europe areas, which subsequently lead the government to expand their migrant classification to include eastern and southern Europe (Jones, 1996). 70 years after WW2, in Australia’s current age, the population has increased to 24 Million and continues to rise. Australia is also yet to distinguish a population policy, because of the constant disagreement between ‘Big

Mares. Peter. 2012 "Temporary Migration and its Implications for Australia" Papers on Parliament No. 57