White Australia Policy

Set during the Vietnam war and at a time where the White Australia policy was not completely dismantled, prejudice is a key

In the early 1890’s, protectionism gave way to state and commonwealth government regimes of segregation. In the development of the constitution, politicians included sections specifically excluding Indigenous Australians, such as the white Australia policy, ensuring that racism became entrenched in the new nation’s future. Reserves and missions were set up far from white settlements, to exclude and control Indigenous Australians, especially those of mixed descent (Hampton & Toombs, Racism, colonisation/colonialism and impacts on indigenous people, 2013).

With the already little population of 5 million Australian people and the loss of 300,000 men, this should have been a dark time, but to make up on that loss Australia received 300,000 migrants. These Migrants came from Britain. As there was a large amount of unemployment the British government encouraged the people of britain to migrate to Australia. Also the

The Gold Rush made Australia largely colonised and continually expanding. In 1852, 370,000 immigrants arrived in Australia from many different countries. The economy boomed and many different cultures were introduced. Countries like England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, America, China and Germany showed up as the majority of diggers on the Australian census. The population continued to grow

The roots of the 'White Australia ' policy can be outlined to the 1850s. Until the 'White Australia 's policy was abolished in the twentieth century, Australia was officially defined as white. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people were not considered the part of White Australia, and indigenous Studies was not required in the school curriculum. This meant schooling was culturally unsuitable for indigenous students. Furthermore, the Australian students were not educated to appreciate Indigenous cultures either in past or present. Aboriginal Studies is about social justice for all Australians -- equity, human rights, a fair go and mutual respect for our fellow Australians. It is hard to define social justice but everybody

From 1850 to 1900 it is estimated that 90,000 Chinese, 62,000 South Pacific Islanders, 3,000 Japanese and 2,000 Afghans immigrated to Australia. 3,000 Chinese people went to New South Wales where most got jobs as ‘coolies ,which was basically semi-slavery, they were given barely enough pay to live off of and working conditions worse than the ones of free workers. Even worse the worker was bound to their employer a few years at a time by contract so they could not even leave if they wanted to. 2,000 Chinese people went to Victoria for the gold rush where they were treated horribly, they were abused, given bad rumours such as diseased and had to deal with race riots where their tents were burned and they were dragged through the dirt. In the end they started to restrict Chinese immigration around Australia, however the people that did make it through got enough wealth to settle in Australia. Pacific Islanders and Japanese people were treated the same, lied to for their skills in harsh environments, which sometimes ended in deaths. Afghans were probably given the most recognition for their work, exploring Australia and helping build a rail named ‘the Ghan’, though the conditions were the same trekking through the harsh

There was more or less no assistance of any kind given to the Chinese migrants, as immigration was rather a haphazard affair in the 19th century (especially to an isolated young country like Australia) and the level of racism encountered by Chinese prospectors on arrival made goldmining and making a living in Australia even harder.

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

Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was an Act of the parliament of Australia and was formed on the basis of the White Australian Policy, it main aim was to limit immigration to Australia of all non- white Europeans from Australia. Propaganda campaigns in Britain leaded to the largely popular immigration of British people seeking a new lifestyle the Australian Government was quick to condemn them with racial campaigns against the Chinese. Many state that the White Australian policy was to keep Australia’s economic statues alive and to maintaining living standards and that it was not intended to be racist towards the Chinese. The Chinese were specifically targeted by the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 as the Government had a mixed mindset on

During the 19th century, five main phases have characterized immigration in Australia. The Gold Rush period in 1851, led immigrants from Europe and East Asia to migrate to Australia in search of gold finds (Spinks, 2010). The second phase of immigration occurred in 1871, when Egypt expanded its passage of the Suez Canal and migrants from Northern Africa and the Middle East were able to gain access to Australia’s southern seaports (Boulus, Dowding, and Pietsch, 2013). In 1901, however, the new Commonwealth of Australia established the Immigration Restriction Act, or the ‘White Australia policy,’ which banned immigrants from entering Australia. Moreover, the policy prohibited those existing ‘non-whites’ from obtaining citizenship and gaining

The Maternity Allowance Act and The Commonwealth Franchise Act of 1902 purposefully excluded Aboriginal women. Asian immigrants also suffered discrimination. Australians thought Asian immigrants would threaten their economic strength at the hand of threatening the “working man’s paradise” by introducing cheap labour and forcing wages to go down, it was also believed that Asian immigrants would jeopardise Australia’s position as a “civilised” country. A quote by a Sydney reporter after a violent clash between white and Chinese miners in 1857 describes the relations between the two races:"the increasing number of celestials has been gradually creating a feverish and dangerous state of excitement". Asian immigrants were also treated

The Australian government has created and implemented many policies to create a united White Australia until the 1960s. Most significant history issue is ‘Stolen generation’, which was implemented from 1910 to the late 1970s. This policy is serious trauma to all generations of Aboriginal peoples and still effect on them (Korff 2017b; Murphy 2011, p. 482). Many assimilation policies have focused a great deal on children because the government thought that children could easily adapt white culture. The children who were taken live in missionary camp or some children were adopted by European family. They learned Western culture and English forcefully, and the government tried to get rid of indigenous culture from them. In addition, they banned children from using their traditional songs or languages. In fact, children who have been educated so long time have forgotten all about the indigenous cultures and language (Australians togetherr n.d.). Stolen children and their families are still struggle with past mismanagement and discrimination;

In 1788, at the time when European settlement began in Australia, the aboriginal population was about 400,000. Today, there are more than 23 million people that live in Australia originating from a variety of countries all over the world.

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