White Australia Policy

Along with the American presence, Australia’s treatment of aliens also had the potential to cause considerable divisions. When war broke out, many foreigners, mostly Germans, and other ‘dangerous persons were made to prove their identity and placed under strict rules which they had to adhere to in order to live in Australia. However it was not the government, but the

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.

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

The concept of being a ‘nation of immigrants’ is at the center of Australian identity.

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).

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

It is thought by many that part of the Australian identity is being a very tolerant country that accepts and includes all cultures and people from all walks of life; however, after coming across the poems No More Boomerang by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and Be Good, Little Migrants by Uyen Loewald, the experiences felt by two Australians prove that this idea is... questionable.

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.

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 is a significant event in Australia. This event is not nessacerialy one Australians should be proud of but did help Australia become a better place and helped Australia become what it is today. The White Australian policy affected many non-Europeans seeking safety. The White Australian policy is known to go on for 25 years until in 1966 Prime Minister set a Migration Act.

“Nobody knew what was awaiting us in Australia.” This statement by an interviewed person by Jerzy Zubrzycki, named Lydia, suggests Australia was simply not well known in the DP camps of Europe. Thus Australian officials advertised Australia as a “…country of salvation and new beginnings, and an escape route from the wartime devastation and postwar Communist perils of Europe.” This subversion directly appeals to DPs, however with “new beginnings”, there were many differences between Australia and Europe that were often unexpected by migrants. Chub presents this stark contrast between reality and the highly publicised version of Australia, including “…the trees and birds [which] were different…even the frogs croaked differently to those in Ukraine…” These representations suggest Australia was a homeland that was also pastoral and nostalgic in a European sense. On the other hand, these representations suggest attention was more towards representing Australia as a desirable resettlement destination, rather than successfully integrating immigrants into the Australian community. The features of the Australian immigration policy, and other factors including distance made it an unattractive resettlement destination. For these reasons, Australian officials may have felt the need to ‘sell’ Australia.

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

Not only were the Aborigines excludes from human rights, but Australia enacted a policy which excluded anyone non-European from entering the country. Known as the White Australia policy or Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, it excluded anyone entry into the country who could not pass the dictation test. The dictation test was a basic grammar test that was administered by the government. The grammar in question was English, however if one was to pass the test in English the person could be re-tested in another European language. Thus keeping out all non-white people from the country (Gothard, J, p.35, 2003). The policy led Australia into growing a large White Caucasian population. However, the Immigration Restriction Act was abolished in 1958

64, Commonwealth of Australia 2011). Policy then moved towards more assimilationist strategies in which attempts were made to convert Aboriginal Australians into ‘responsible citizens’ (Gilbert 2005, Haebich 2000). The protectionist and assimilationist policies share the core values that Aboriginal culture is inferior and on its way to an ‘evolutionary end’ (Gilbert 2005, p. 64).

Ever since the start of modern states countries have developed policies of immigration that have responded to that time and period in which it was created. Towards the end of the 1800s and the start of the 1900s many countries held tight control over immigration some of them prompted by racial differences and others because of the scarcity of jobs for native citizens. The term White Australian policy adopted in 1901 comprises various historical policies that effectively barred people of non-European descent from immigrating to Australia. There was never any specific policy titled such, but the term was used moreover to describe a collection of policies that were designed to exclude people from Asia (specifically China) and the Pacific Islands policies similar to this