Federation & The White Australia Policy

The push towards Federation owes much of its existence to the White Australia Policy. The Chinese citizens of Melbourne, to celebrate the first Parliament of the Commonwealth, erected an elaborate arch in Swanson St near Bourke St. The arch was in the traditional Chinese style and is testimony to the multicultural influences that Australia has always had.

Looking back, we can see that this was an extraordinarily gracious move, in light of the poor treatment that Chinese and other non European people had sustained in Australia at that time.

Anti Chinese sentiment was sparked in the 1850's when significant numbers of Chinese immigrants experienced particular success on the Southern Australian gold fields.

 

In December of 1901, the federated colonies, through the Immigration Restriction Act, brought the White Australia Policy into being. The Act utilised the infamous dictation test so that any potential immigrant to Australia had to sit for a dictation test in any European Language. This made non European immigration to Australia almost impossible and it was not until 1959 that this act was repealed.

These events help us understand why the current irrational fear of the 'Asian menace' swamping Australia can still strike such cords in some Australians. More importantly, however, they help us to understand that without the contribution of all Australians, the Federation as we know it today, could never have happened.