Transcript White Australia Policy

Birth of a Nation
• English colonisation of Terra Australis
• Government ‘white supremacy’
• 1901 Federation: Australia becomes a
nation
• Among the first Acts of Parliament: White
Australia Policy
• Mass deportation of Chinese immigrants
White Australia Policy
• Late 19th century trade unions
campaigned against foreign
labour
• After Federation (1901), Edmond
Barton Australia’s first PM:
• “The doctrine of the equality of
man was never intended to apply
to the equality of the Englishman
and the Chinaman”
• Early drafts of Immigration
Restriction Act 1901 → adoption
of dictation test (ANY European
language)
• 1919 Paris Peace Conference,
PM Hughes. Japan equality
clause
‘Populate or Perish’
• Post WWII mass
immigration 1% p.a
increase
• ‘White Australia’
expanded to
encompass all
Europeans
• Assisted migration
£10 Poms then £20
Poms until 1974
1975 and the implications for today
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975, made it illegal to
use racial criteria to discriminate
• End of radically motivated policy
• Vietnamese refugees, Chinese and Indian
migrants started arriving after change of policy
• Today UK, NZ, China, Italy, Vietnam, India are
the largest migrant groups
• Australia is one of the most culturally diverse
countries in the world.
So who is defined as ‘Australian’?
Some statistics on Australia today
• Estimated population 22,719,539
• 2006 census Australians were asked to describe their
ancestry:
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Indigenous Australians 2.5% (2006)
‘Australian’ 37.37%
English 31.65%
Irish 9.08%
Scottish 7.56%
Chinese 3.37%
Indian 1.18%
• Most migrants come to Australia on an approved
program such as ‘skills migration’ or ‘family reunion’
• 2004-05: 123,424 people migrated (17,736 African)
Illegal Immigration
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Unauthorised immigration arrivals tend to be the most controversial
Both major parties have campaigned on the fear of ‘boatpeople’
2009, 2849 people arrived by boat to Australia
But in 2009 there were an estimated 50,000 people in Australia
illegally overstaying their visas
Government response to
unauthorised arrivals
• Mandatory detention established 1992
• 1994 extended to indefinite mandatory detention
• 1998 HREOC Australia breaching HR
obligations under UN convention (particularly
CROC) 2005 release of families with children
into community detention
• 2001 Pacific Solution (response to TAMPA)
• Offshore processing- no right to legal assistance
or judicial review
• 2008 ‘Pacific Solution’ formally ended
• Malaysian deal
‘Fuck off, we’re full!’
• A question of integration?
Why the WPA was
introduced..
• ‘Aussie’ way of life,
nationalism
• Indian students in
Australia
• Cronulla riots
• ‘Not in my backyard’,
detention centres
• Social networks
• Skills shortage
• One Nation