White Australia Policy

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

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.

This was for many reasons but one main reason being the fact that the whites could lose their occupations and industries to a Chinese being, which were also known as coolies. Source 1 states that some of the earliest evidence was during the gold rush during the 1850’s, Chinese were hard workers and needed to support their families and themselves. It also states in source 1 that South Sea Island Islanders (commonly known as ‘Kanakas’) were imported as cheap labour to work in Northern Queensland. This was so they could work on the sugar cane fields; the process is called ‘black birding’. Source 7 shows that the origins that the Policy was built on was because of ‘racial exclusiveness’ on the gold fields. The Dictation Test, as seen in source 5, was given to all non-European people attempting to enter Australia in the years between 1901 and 1958. The test was harsh and any foreigner who took the test was almost always set to fail. It was incredibly unfair to the ‘coolies’ that were trying to enter. Another reason that the immigration act was passed was because of ‘racial

The assimilation policy was brought into the aboriginal community in 1937, by numerous commonwealth and state government representatives. This policy aimed to make the aboriginals of Australia conform to the custom and traditions of the white Australians of British origin. When the policy was brought in it only applied to people of mixed decent, people who are part European and aboriginal. In1951 the assimilation policy changed to state all aboriginals shall attain the same manner of living as other Australians. Again in 1965 the policy was adjusted, but continued to apply to all aboriginal people. Aboriginal people of Australia have always had a strong connection with the land, each other and their religion. In 1960 the assimilation policy was declared a failure; through out the previous years surprisingly the community of aboriginals had continued to grow. This was to the white people, a sign of their strength, their traditions and how they as a community will continue to fight for their rights. While they still continued to grow in number

Some historians believe that the fear of Asian immigration was a major reason for why people supported federation. Since the immense inflow of foreigners with the gold rush's, Australians were making it progressively clear apparent that they desired to preserve their colonies as a place for white people only.

These ideals were inevitably challenged when white society was confronted by people of mixed blood. The lack of conformity by the Aboriginal race to a white lifestyle was seen as a problem as was the growing number of ‘half castes’.[17] Some Australians found it offensive to see almost white children living amongst Aboriginal families.[18] As a solution to this problem, in 1937 the Federal Government adopted the Policy of Absorption as the future destiny of the Aboriginal people of Australia.[19] This decision was based on prevailing scientific and anthropological knowledge which suggested that Australian Aborigines were descended from the Caucasian race[20].

By the 1950’s all state governments invoked a new policy called assimilation (1950’s – 1960’s), which aimed to eliminate Indigenous cultures, religion and languages. Assimilation was based on the belief that if living conditions were improved, Indigenous Australians were to be absorbed into White Australian society (Hampton & Toombs, Racism, colonisation/colonialism and impacts on indigenous people, 2013). After the failure of the assimilation policy, governments aimed their sights towards Integration (1960’s - 1980’s). Integration was a step towards

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

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

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

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.

Chinese Presence in Australia by Andrew Tran During the late 1800s, many Chinese came to Australia in search of freedom and wealth. However, when the Chinese arrived to Australia, they were treated with great hostility, racism and resentment from the European society. This was due to the very strange and unusual Chinese customs that the Australians/Europeans saw. Soon, the Australian government introduced the ‘White Australia Policy.’

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 has always been a controversial topic in Australian society; who the government should and should not let into the country. Over the years Australia’s immigration policy has evolved and changed with the changing of attitudes and beliefs in society. The current immigration policy for Australia is a lot less discriminatory than past policies like the “White Australia policy” and the “Populate or Perish policy”. After federation in 1901 the Australian government created the Immigration Restriction Act.

This paper is divided into two parts. In the first part the concepts or race, ethnicity, prejudice and racism are defined and how they are connected is discussed. Part 2 of the paper looks at the ‘White Australia’ policy and why it was introduced. The impact of such a racist immigration history on contemporary Australia is also discussed in terms of attitudes and behaviours of the population.