The White Australia Policy
" The anti-Chinese movements were caused by
economic factors rather than racial factors, commencing in the opposition to further
transportation of convicts in the 1830s and 1840s." Takao
Fujikawa - Japanese researcher into the White Australia Policy
From 1901 to the end of World War II, Australia used language tests, otherwise known as the Immigration Restriction Act (White Australia Policy), to prevent "undesirables" (prostitutes, paupers, criminals, non-whites, contract labourers) from migrating to Australia. In total, the policy ran for around 50 years; less than a 1/4 of Australia's urban history.
Unfortunately, some historians have used the Act to portray present-day Australians as racists. Specifically, they have deliberately mistold the reasons for the policy and ignored some of the positive race relations either side of it. As a consequence of their deliberate misdirections, history has been used to divide races in Australia.
One such historian is David Day, a white research fellow at LaTrobe University. According to Mr Day:
"The law was passed with hardly a voice raised in protest, although there was discussion as to the best way of achieving its objective of racial purity." (1)
While Mr Day has his reasons for his interpretation of history, his conclusions are not consistent with reality and call into question his moral integrity. As Mr Day would know, racial purity was not the objective of the Immigration Restriction Act and it was passed with plenty of protest.
Foundations of the White Australia Policy
Unlike America's colonial era, race was relatively insignificant in Australia's colonial era. In America's founding era, whites constituted the majority of the population, and were the first class citizens. Blacks were the disliked minority. On the other hand, nearly two generations into Australia's urban era, nearly 80 per cent of the population was a Convict, Emancipist, or of Convict descent. As a consequence, the majority of the population were second class-citizens, and the exclusive free settlers were the disliked minority. Race was insignificant compared to the stigma of criminality and the majority of the population shared that stigma together. An English newspaper of the time wrote:
"Historically,
the greatest rift has been between the "exclusives" and the "emancipists".
The first group believe that anyone who has come to the colony in penal servitude
is never capable of complete redemption. These people, who tend to be among the
wealthy landowners, thus see themselves as a superior class. For their part, the
emancipists, who are all ex-convicts, are concerned with equality of human rights."
Billy Blue; a black Convict that arguably became Australia's first celebrity
The unique social dynamic allowed non-whites to be celebrated in Australia in a way that they could never be celebrated in America. A good example comes in the form of the black emancipist Billy Blue. In the early 19th century, Billy Blue became what could be defined as Australia's first celebrity. He was admired by the convict class and dined with the governors. Newspapers of the time didn't even refer to his colour. In tribute to Billy's legacy, many streets, landmarks, hotels and businesses in Nth Sydney were named in his honour. These include Blues Point, William Street, Blues Point Road, The Commodore Hotel, and the Billy Blue Design School.
More examples of equality for all races came in revolutionary ideals of the 1850s. At the 1854 Eureka rebellion, Raffaelo Carboni, an Italian migrant, called on the crowd,
"irrespective of nationality, religion and colour", to salute the Southern Cross as the "refuge of all the oppressed from all the countries on earth".
Later Carboni wrote:
"The maiden appearance of our standard, in the midst of armed men, sturdy, self-overworking diggers of all languages and colours, was a fascinating object to behold." (2)
Of the 13 men arrested and tried with treason after the rebellion, two were black. Carboni, a Jew and a large number of Irishmen were also arrested. Perhaps the government deliberately targeted non-Anglo races for prosecution in order to erode support for the stockade. If so, the plan backfired because a jury found all thirteen men not guilty and they became colonial heroes. One of the black men, John Joseph, was carried around the streets in triumph by over 10,000 people.
John Joseph; like other "ethnics" was singled out for prosecution but became a hero
The egalitarian sentiments were again reflected when the colonies of NSW, Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania and framed their constitutions in the later 1850s. The colonies gave the vote to every man over the age of 21, regardless of race, religion or class (Aborigines included.)
Admittedly, the goldfields also saw some conflict between
European and Chinese miners. Perhaps as a result of east west cultural differences of the
time, the two groups rarely mixed and seemed to see each other as rivals for
gold.
The early social dynamic changed further when alluvial gold
ran out and corporations took over. Europeans were no longer seeking gold, but
were seeking higher wages and believed the best way to achieve them was through
unionism. As was to be expected, unions campaigned against any kind of labour that undermined their power. Initially, the threat to the unions came in the form of Convicts. Businesses could import Convicts and not have to worry about them joining the unions or dying on the job.
Once Convict transportation came to an end in each colony, businesses started importing Chinese and Pacific Islanders. The Chinese were under contract to those who paid their fare and this contract prevented them from joining unions. In addition, language and cultural differences may have made it more difficult to join unions. As for the Pacific Islanders, they were sometimes sold by island chiefs and therefore they were culturally bound to do as they were told.
In addition to causing problems by not joining unions, the contract labourers and Chinese were causing problems by spending very little money in Australia and instead saving almost all of it for their planned return to their home countries. For a real economy to emerge, the fledging businesses of Australia needed some of the profits of the gold rush to be spent in Australia. As was to be expected, local service and retail industries were not fond of the frugral nature of the Chinese and did not rejoice when Chinese found gold as they rejoiced when other nationalities found gold nor did they rejoice when Chinese found good jobs.
In response to the non-white threat to their power, unions started campaigning for a federated Australia with uniform immigration laws that could keep out the non-whites (or anyone that wouldn't join a union). In 1889, the platform of the Melbourne Trades and Labour Council in 1889 included a 'Bill to prevent the introduction of criminal, pauper or Asiatic labour'. A Federation poster appearing in Punch magazine contained an old man advising a youngster:
"Right, my boy, your worthy of your sire. In the old days I stopped the convicts in the bay. And now you must bar out the yellow plague with your arm."
Melbourne Punch, 3rd May1888 - Asians likened to Convicts
In 1901, the federation of Australia became a reality and the Immigration Restriction Act was implemented. The act prohibited prostitutes, criminals, and anyone under a contract or agreement to perform manual labour within Australia. It also required migrants pass a test in a language chosen by an immigration officer. This language test was used to exclude Asians or any individual that an immigration officer decided was of a dubious character. Black Americans were generally considered to be of a good character and were allowed to migrate.
Although some politicians said extremely racist things to justify the exclusion of non-whites, others argued that the claims were nothing but a distraction from the real intention. Bruce Smith of the Free Trade party said:
"The foundation of the bill is racial prejudice. The whole thing is a bogy, a scarecrow. I venture to say that a large part of the scare is founded upon a desire to make political capital by appealing to some of the worst instincts of the more credulous of the people." (3)
The Labour Party voiced its opposition to the racial overtones. James Fowler arguing:
"Many of these peoples are at least our equal in all that goes to make up morality, or even intellectual or physical qualities. We should not, therefore, argue this question upon such grounds." (3)
Even the chief architect of the policy, Alfred Deakin, conceded that non-whites might be superior, and it was belief in their superiority that necessitated that they be kept out:
"It is not the bad qualities, but the good qualities of these alien races that make them so dangerous to us. It is their inexhaustible energy, their power of applying themselves to new tasks, their endurance and low standard of living that make them such competitors."
Anti-Chinese campaigns didn’t promote ideas of Chinese inferiority, rather, they promoted ideas that the Chinese would become the new masters.
Opinions in the wider community reflected some of mixed opinions in parliament. Henry Lawson, a nationalistic poet of the era, wrote an essay saying the Chinese must be kept out because they were not good colonists; however, he also said:
"The American negro is already a man and brother."(5)
Lawson was a committed unionist and his dislike of Chinese but like of American blacks was a further example of the Immigration Restriction Act being motivated by economic reasons rather than notions of white supremacy. Furthermore, while he identified himself as being fiercely anti-Chinese, he went about making exceptions for all the nice Chinese he met. In his own words:
“I am anti-Chinese as far as Australia is concerned; in fact I am all for a White Australia. But one may dislike, or even hate, a nation without hating or disliking an individual of the nation. One may be on friendly terms; even pals in a way. I had a good deal of experience with the Chinese in the old years, and I never knew or heard of a Chinaman who neglected to pay his debts, who did a dishonest action, or who forgot a kindness to him or his, or was not charitable when he had the opportunity.”(7)
Walls of China in Lake Mungo. Named by Chinese workers who said that the sides of the lake reminded them of China's Great Wall.
Although the White Australia Policy restricted the ability of Asians to migrate to Australia, because it was primarily designed for economic reasons, it was unlikely that it was a reflection of a wider dislike of Asians in Australian society. From the years 1900 to 1950, there was plenty of evidence of Asian culture being respected. Firstly, the streets of Sydney and Melbourne were home to Chinese cookhouses. Secondly, Australia's greatest race horse was named "Phar Lap" after Aubrey Ping, the son of a Chinese migrant, told a trainer that it meant "sky flash" in both Zhuang and Thai. Obviously the trainer didn't think that an Asian name would prevent the public from feeling a sense of ownership over him. That faith in the public proved to be well founded. During the 1930s depression, Australians ventured to the track to cheer on Phar Lap while Germans were turning to Hitler.
In World War2, the fondness for black people, which had
repeatedly being shown in the Convict era, again revealed itself in the Battle
of Brisbane, which involved between 2,000 or 5,000 soldiers fighting each other. The
American army had a policy of segregation and restricted African American
soldiers to the south side of the Brisbane River.
The Australians
were appalled by the segregation, and refused to support it. Local dance halls
allowed black Americans to enter, white Australian soldiers drank with black
American soldiers and white Australian women appeared as attracted to black
Americans as they were with white Americans.
These positive attitudes to black Americans inflamed
tensions between white Americans and white Australians. It also inflamed tensions
between black and white Americans. After being encouraged to see themselves as
equals, black Americans tried to cross the
Brisbane River,
and some were subsequently assaulted and killed for doing so. In the process,
the white Americans further alienated themselves from the Australian
population.
With the general population showing values that were not
consistent with government policy, it was inevitable that government would also
eventually change to meet community sentiment.
The major change in immigration policy came under the rein of the Labor leader Ben Chiefly immediately after World War II. Whereas previous governments had favoured immigration from Britain, Chiefly favoured anywhere from Europe. Millions of non-English speaking southern Europeans were enticed to migrate to Australia. To give them a job and enable the Australian community to appreciate them, Chiefly initiated the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme. 70 per cent of the workers were migrants and they came from countries that had been in conflict with each other for thousands of years. Rather than hold on to their conflicts, the migrants let them go and embraced the future.
In addition to reducing conflict by giving the migrants a purpose, Chiefly reduced conflict by referring to them as “new Australians”. The title encouraged the migrants to see themselves as stakeholders in Australia’s future and pre-existing Australians to embrace them as stakeholders.
As well as targeting non-traditional European migrants, Chiefly also started dismantling restrictions on Asian migration. In 1947, Chiefly relaxed the Immigration Restriction Act by allowing non-Europeans to settle permanently in Australia for business reasons. In addition, around 700 Australian soldiers who had married Japanese women were allowed to bring their brides back to Australia.
It said a great deal about the soldiers' characters that they would marry a people that had been accused of terrible things, and subsequently risk community outrage by bringing the enemy people back to Australia. Likewise, the willingness of the Australian people to break an immigration policy to accept the women, and forgive the Japanese in general, also showed a strength of character worthy of admiration. Other nations in the eastern hemisphere have not been able to forgive the actions of the Japanese as readily as Australians. Even today, many Chinese can't even stand to be in the same room as Japanese men or women.
Because migrants and the wider Australian community were able to see the positive side of non-traditional migration, the remaining aspects of the Immigration Restriction Act were progressively dismantled by the Liberal Menzies government. In 1958, a revised Migration Act introduced a simpler system of entry permits and abolished the controversial dictation test. Because the revised Act avoided references to questions of race, it allowed well-qualified Asians to migrate.
By 1964,
almost all conditions blocking entry of people of non-European stock had been removed and non-traditional migration was being very well recieved by the Australian community. By 1966, there were 101,387 Asian-born migrants in Australia. (ABS 2005).
The election of the Whitlam Labor government in 1972 represented somewhat of a schizophrenic progression and regression of ideologies. In regards to progress, Whitlam introduced some symbolic gestures that aimed to show that race was not a significant factor in migration. Specifically, Whitlam:
- Legislated that all migrants, regardless of origin, be eligible to obtain citizenship after three years of permanent residence;
- Ratified all international agreements relating to immigration and race;
- Issued policy to Australian embassies to totally disregard race as a factor in selecting migrants.
On the negative side, Whitlam created a self-flagellating white identity that was a form of psuedo-racism. Specifically, he encouraged non-anglos to hold onto an ethnic identity and retain their cultural heritage, while he encouraged anglos to detach themselves from their British heritage and see themselves as Australians. Because this entailed an inequality of status, Whitlam then encouraged the Anglos to take a self-critical approach to their heritage as some kind of pseudo leveller. With time, the identity expanded from self-flagellating Anglos, who had to protect the "ethnics", to self-flagellating whites, who had to protect the "ethnics."
Although it was self-critical, it was a race-based identity and like all race-based identities, it excluded others. In his 1998 book White Nation: Fantasies of White Supremacy in a Multicultural Society, Lebonese-born anthropologist Ghassan Hage analysed how the subconcious psychology of the whites, who claimed to oppose racism, actually affirmed their sense of cultural superiority. According to Hage:
"Far from putting 'migrant cultures', even in their 'soft' sense (i.e. through food, dance, etc.), on an equal footing with the dominant culture, the theme conjures the images of a multicultural fair where the various stalls of neatly positioned migrant cultures are exhibited and where the real Australians, bearers of the White nation and positioned in the central role of the touring subjects, walk around and enrich themselves."
Evidence of Hage's theories came in a 2005 survey that asked intellectuals to name Australia’s leading intellectuals. Even though the majority of intellectuals would have identified themselves as being against racism (and sexism), the list they produced had 8 white men in the 10 most influential Australian intellectuals. Every intellectual in the top 20 had Caucasian ancestry. The leading intellectual was white man Robert Manne, who was also one of Australia's most vocal self-flagellators.
Racial equality probably failed to be realised because the majority of the intellectuals had a racial identity that helped build the status of its white members. Specifically, the white identity excluded non-whites from the moral empowerment of the anti-white activist campaigns. The “we” whites who jumped on board were able to see themselves as keepers of political power that were showing "moral courage" by acknowledging their "guilt." This was recognised by Kay Schaffer, an Associate Professor from Adelaide University. In regards to white intellectuals dominating the racial debate, Schaffer wondered:
"Or is this present controversy yet another example of some prominent and influential white Australians talking to and among themselves in the name of a national debate in a way that maintains the exclusion of the nation's others? " (4)
While there has been a lot of well intentioned, but racial supremacist attitudes since the days of the Whitlam Government, there has also been some more inclusive ideologies. For example, at the end of World War II, Australia's population was 7 million. In 2006, migrants constituted 22.8 per cent of the Australian population of around 20 million. The accommodation of these migrants has largely come without the conflicts seen in France and England, which only have a migrant population of around 5.6 and 4.8 per cent respectively, yet still haven't been able to integrate the migrants in a harmonious way. Both England and France have suffered some very serious minority-led race riots that have not been seen in Australia.
Mixed in with the relatively harmonious migration have been some very public displays of support for non-whites. In a uniquely Australian event, Frank Worrel's 1961 touring West Indian cricket team played well-above expectations and won the hearts of Australians in the process. Although losing the series, 90,000 Australians lined the streets of Melbourne in a ticker tape parade biding the Windies farewell. In rugby union, another sport that is often portrayed as the bastion of white establishment, the record of most caps as test captain is held by a blackman, George Gregan. As well as being popular with selectors, Gregan was popular with the Australia public; as evidenced by his frequent appearances in endorsements and communication campaigns. In music and stage, Marcia Hines became one of Australia's best-loved performers. In the 70s, she had a string of top-ten hits, was dubbed "The First Australian Lady of Song" and became the first black woman to play Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar. In the new mellenium, she became a judge on Australian Idol and released more successful albums.
The winner of the inaugural season of the Australian Idol song contest was born in Malaysia. After the 2004 Asian tsunami, a Liberal government gave $1 billion in aid to Australia's Asian neighbours in a move that was very electorally popular. In 2007, Australia elected the first western leader who could speak Chinese.
All of the positive attitudes of Australians to non-white countries and migrants from them are ignored by the likes of David Day, who see themselves as wardens needing to protect Asians and non-whites against the horrid Australians. It is almost as if the likes of Mr Day are defined by a penal colony psyche except the scorn that was originally directed towards Convicts, then Chinese, has now been directed onto Australians. That scorn allows Mr Day and co to see themselves as superior.
The identity requires that all non-whites be defined as ethnic, and that examples of hostility towards them be exaggerated to portray Australians in a negative way. Subsequently, the David Days can portray themselves as the saviours that will punish the racist Australian and protect the non-white victims.
Unfortunately, whites such as David Day bring conflict. By constantly reinforcing the stereotype that Australians are racist, some Australians decide to act in conformity to the stereotype by just becoming racist. Furthermore, by constantly attacking Australia, the Australians act just the same as other people do around the world when their culture is attacked; they defend it. Although this doesn’t cause racial problems when it is white Australians fighting white Australians, it does cause problems when non-whites conform to the ideology of David Day and join in the attacks. This inevitably results in an ethnic versus Australian social dynamic that breeds some unsavoury attitudes.
Activity 1 – Why different conclusions?
Activity purpose - Identifying how identity may influence the interpretation of the facts
Takao Fujikawam, a Japanese scholar researching the White Australia Policy wrote,
" The Australian colonists reaction to the Chinese took precedents, not from the contact experience with Aboriginal people or non-white indentured labour, but from anti-transportation movements. The anti-Chinese movements were caused by economic factors rather than racial factors, commencing in the opposition to further transportation of convicts in the 1830s and 1840s. "
David Day, a white Australian academic, wrote
"The law was passed with hardly a voice raised in protest, although there was discussion as to the best way of achieving its objective of racial purity."
- How might the respective racial background of the scholars affected the way they interpreted the reasons for the policy?
- Why might an Asian scholar be less comfortable with displays of racism against Asians than a Caucasian scholar?
Activity 2- Analysis
Activity purpose – To study pictures in order to reveal the ideologies of the time
Look at the above picture. It shows John Bull (representing Britain) trying to convince Barton that non-white labour is good for business.
- How is Barton portrayed?
- How are the non-whites portrayed (notice the smiles, hunched shoulders and caricatured features)?
- At the time, big business and free trade parties were supporters of non-white migration. Does this mean they were more humanist?
Activity 3 –Change in ideology
Activity purpose – To consider how the White Australia Policy differed from some the culture it was built on
On November 30, the Eureka Flag was unveiled and the stockade was built. Raffaello Carboni, one of the leaders of the rebellion: wrote of the event:
"The maiden appearance of our standard, in the midst of armed men, sturdy, self-overworking diggers of all languages and colours, was a fascinating object to behold....Some five hundred armed diggers advanced in real sober earnestness, the captains of each division making the military salute to Lalor, who now knelt down, the head uncovered, and with the right hand pointing towards the standard exclaimed in a firm measured tone:-
'WE SWEAR BY THE SOUTHERN CROSS TO STAND TRULY BY EACH OTHER, AND FIGHT TO DEFEND OUR RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES.'
An universal well rounded AMEN, was the determined reply: some five hundred right hands stretched towards our flag.
The earnestness of so many faces of all kinds of shape and colour; the motley heads of all sorts of size and hair; the shagginess of so many beards of all lengths and thicknesses; the vividness of double the number of eyes electrified by the magnetism of the southern cross; one of those grand sights, such as are recorded only in the history of 'the Crusaders in Palestine..."
"I ...called on all my fellow-diggers, irrespective of nationality, religion or colour, to salute the 'Southern Cross' as the refuge of all the oppressed from all the countries on earth. - The applause was universal, accordingly I received my full reward: prison and chains! Old Style."
- Why do you think Carboni repeatedly mentioned the diversity of the languages, colours and appearance of the Diggers?
- As someone who was not Anglo, what do you think the Eureka Rebellion meant to Carboni?
- Why do you think Carboni refers to prison and chains as a reward in the old style? What does "old style" mean?
- The trooper response to the stockade also mentioned the diversity of the Diggers. To be precise, a notice was posted that read:
" Her Majesty's forces were this morning fired upon by a large body of evil-disposed persons of various nations, who had entrenched themselves in a stockade on the Eureka, and some officers and men killed…God Save the Queen."
Why do you think the troopers likewise mentioned the diversity of Diggers' nationalities? Which side do you think a "patriot" of the era would have been on?
Activity 4 –A trial for propaganda
Activity purpose – To understand how a British government used race to try to manipulate public support for an anti-government protest
Over 1,500 men trained at the stockade in preparation for battle but only 13 were arrested and tried with treason after the rebellion. Two of these men were black, one was an Italian (Carboni), another was a Jew and the rest were Irish.
Do you think non-Anglo races were targeted for prosecution in order to erode support for the stockade? Why or why not?
A jury found all thirteen men not guilty and they became colonial heroes. One of the black men, John Joseph, was carried around the streets in triumph by over 10,000 people.
What did the jury’s verdict and the celebration of John Joseph suggest about attitudes to non-Anglo people at the time?
The American government secured the release of white Americans who had been involved in the stockade but not John Joseph, an American black.
Can you think of any historical explanations for why Australia and America had different attitudes to black people at the time?
It is commonly presumed that attitudes become more progressive and enlightened with time. Knowing what you know about the Eureka Stockade, do you think attitudes in regards to racial diversity were more enlightened in the 1850s or 1950s?
Why do you think Australia progressed or regressed from the 1850s to the 1950s?
More
White Australia's myths
Keith Windschuttle
The Australian
December 6, 2004
http://www.sydneyline.com/White%20Australia's%20myths.htm
 
Top 10 countries of birth, 1901 and 2001 Censuses |
1901 Census |
2001 Census |
Birthplace |
No. |
% |
Birthplace |
No. |
% |
1. |
United Kingdom |
495074 |
13.1 |
1. |
United Kingdom |
1036437 |
5.5 |
2 |
Ireland |
184085 |
4.9 |
2. |
New Zealand |
355684 |
1.9 |
3. |
Germany |
38352 |
1.0 |
3. |
Italy |
218754 |
1.2 |
4. |
China |
29907 |
0.8 |
4. |
Vietnam |
154831 |
0.8 |
5. |
New Zealand |
25788 |
0.7 |
5. |
China |
142717 |
0.8 |
6. |
Sweden and Norway |
9863 |
0.3 |
6. |
Greece |
116531 |
0.3 |
7. |
India |
7637 |
0.2 |
7. |
Germany |
108238 |
0.6 |
8. |
USA |
7448 |
0.2 |
8. |
Philippines |
103989 |
0.6 |
9. |
Denmark |
6281 |
0.2 |
9. |
India |
95456 |
0.5 |
10. |
Italy |
5678 |
0.2 |
10. |
Netherlands |
83249 |
0.4 |
Total overseas born |
857576 |
22.7 |
Total overseas born |
4106187 |
21.9 |
1)David Day, A political whitewash. 5 December, 2001 http://www.country-liberal-party.com/pages/David-Day.htm
2)Carboni Raffaello, The Eureka Stockade http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Eureka-Stockade2.html
3)Keith Windschuttle,The White Australia Policy http://www.sydneyline.com/WAP%20Sydney%20Institute.htm
4)Kay Schaffer Manne's Generation: White Nation Responses to the Stolen Generation Report Australian Humanities Review http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/AHR/archive/Issue-June-2001/schaffer.htm
l5)Richard Nile, First cohort for thought, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20459801-25132,00.html
5)HENRY LAWSON Autobiographical and Other Writings 1887-1922 ANGUS AND ROBERTSON, Sydney 1972
6)Pieces of the action Sydney Morning Herald, April 23, 2005 http://www.smh.com.au/news/Film/Pieces-of-the-action/2005/04/22/1114028529703.html
7)'Ah Soon', Lone Hand, 1 August 1912, p. 324; SHL, iii, 223.
8) The hot seat: Ben Quilty The Sydney Morning Herald
March 17, 2007 http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/the-hot-seat-ben-quilty/2007/03/16/1173722723863.html
9)Director slammed for 'white-out' of legendary Gallipoli sniper Billy Sing
The Australian May 6 2010 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/director-slammed-for-white-out-of-legendary-gallipoli-sniper/story-e6frg6nf-1225862770626
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