The voice we now hear is a very different voice from that we were accustomed to hear throughout the length and breadth of New South Wales in advocacy of the Commonwealth Bill. The right honorable gentleman went out of his way unnecessarily, and gave himself a great deal of trouble to hunt up musty old records of New South Wales with reference to this question, and I wondered whether the right honorable gentleman had fumigated these records before dipping his nose into them.
I am sure that if he does not take care he will pick up some germ that might be fatal to him. Why did the right honorable gentleman go to so much trouble to dig up. Sir John Forrest - What is the difference? Whatever the honorable member for Wentworth may have said in the year , his attitude in regard to these aliens has been always accurately and definitely defined. A book on the aliens question, written by Mr.
Arnold White, contains a report of an utterance by the honorable member dating back eleven years. His attitude has been consistent on that question right down to' to-day. On the other hand, we have only to look back at some of these musty documents in order to find much greater inconsistencies in the utterances of some honorable members on the- Government side of the House, than those which have been pointed out in the case of the honorable member for Wentworth.
It could be shown from these documents that members of the present Government were among the loudest in their denunciations of these frippery proposals, as they were called, and that they clamoured for some strong action that would convey to the British Government what we wanted and that we meant what we said. We are told that the present Acts are effective. We have been told by the Prime Minister that the operation of the Act in Western Australia has been effective in stopping the inflow of Asiatic immigrants, and the Minister for Defence echoed and confirmed that statement.
All I can say is that the honorable members who quote this Act as satisfactory, have a very poor idea of what effectiveness is in regard to the alien question. I find that the figures tell a different tale from that spelt by the Premier and the Minister for Defence.
Sir John Forrest - They require explanation. Sir John Forrest - I shall give an explanation directly. Sir John Forrest - The honorable member knows very little about them. I find that for seven months of this year there was an influx of alien immigrants to Western Australia to the number of Sir John Forrest - How many went away 1.
But did the Act drive them away 1. Sir John Forrest - A great many of those immigrants were domiciled in Western Australia, and were returning. Sir John Forrest - No. But there is nothing in the Act which makes it undesirable for these people to remain when they come, and it permitted them to come in to the number of in the space of seven months. That does not seem a very large number ; but everything is relative. We have to take those figures in relation to the population of Western Australia, and we find that there was an inflow of as compared with a population of , in that State.
If we apply that proportion to the whole of the Commonwealth, we have an inflow under the strict English test as applied in Western Australia, of 17, aliens in the year. I do not know what honorable members on. I believe that the same ratio may be applied to the rest of the States, and that hundreds and hundreds of these people, who come in, are not accounted for in the tabulated statements.
It is difficult enough to count our own people who are domiciled in a particular place, but it is infinitely more difficult to account for those migratory people whose habits of life lead them to meander over the continent.
In my opinion, the figures understate the case so far as aliens are concerned, and I have no doubt that thousands of people of the kind find their way here every year, of whom no account is taken. But tailing the tabulated statements as applied to Western Australia alone, I say the facts disclosed are sufficiently alarming, and are a sufficient warranty for taking the drastic step we propose.
But we are told that we must not offend India. The question of offence is one which we must consider in relation to the rest of the actions of the Government. I cannot conceive of anything more offensive to those people - if anything at all will give them offence - than the statement of the Attorney-General the other evening, when, in the most fervid and emphatic way, he said that the prohibition of those races was our goal, and that we intended to clear out of the' country those who were in.
Not only are we going to prevent those people coming here, but, according to the Attorney-General, we are going to do something to lessen the number already in the country.
Could anything be more offensive to those people than a declaration made in that unmistakable way? Does the Attorney-General suppose that the Japanese cannot read 1 Does he suppose that those educated Indians, of whom we heard so much to-day from the lips of the Prime Minister, cannot read?
Does he suppose that they will read only the lines of the Bill and npt the lines of the accompanying speeches? These people are good judges of human action and of motives which prompt people to take definite lines in life, and they will be able to see who is taking the more manly straightforward course - those who tell them that the line is drawn at their entrance here, or those who tell them that they are to be got out of the country if possible, but that that is going to be done in a roundabout, sinuous, and in what is termed a polite way.
If anything could give offence to those people it is the direct and absolute utterance of the Attorney-General and the Premier that prohibition is the goal, and that if this sinuous, tortuous, and supposedly-polite way will not keep them out, we shall take more drastic measures in order to bring about the desired effect.
I do not see much difference between the amendment of the honorable and learned member for Indi and that of the honorable member for Bland except that the former is more offensive. The latter proposes to provide in the Bill that these people may not come here, whereas the honorable and learned member for Indi proposes to take power by this Bill to say at some subsequent time that these same people may not come.
The difference seems to be very much in favour of the course suggested by the honorable member for Bland, who puts the whole of these people in the same category without naming them, whereas the honorable and learned member for Indi will at some future time single out a particular race and take specific action against them. A more invidious and offensive way than the latter one can scarcely conceive.
Mr Isaacs - There is nothing of that in my amendment. Mr Isaacs - Any person. If, therefore, the Japanese came here in large numbers, the honorable and learned member would discuss them by themselves on the floor of the House, and would take action against them by means of a proclamation. Would that not be more invidious than grouping -all those aliens together in the Bill 1 Could anything possibly be more offensive to this supposedly friendly ally of Britain than on the floor of the House to discuss reasons why these particular people should not land here?
After all, such an amendment is only postponing the action which it is proposed to take to-day in a straightforward manner. Dimensions: mm long x mm wide. Before , there was no actual country called Australia, there were six colonies of New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia that existed on the Australian continent and Tasmania the island colony. While the six colonies were on the same continent they were governed by Britain like six separate countries.
Up until the s, there was limited interest in the idea of uniting the colonies into one country and the influential businessmen in the colonies seemed more interested in protecting their own economic interests. Things began to change in the s. There was a severe drought that resulted in violent industrial strikes. Communication had improved and all the colonies were linked to each other and the world by the overland telegraph and submarine telegraph.
Germany, France and Russia were expanding in the Pacific and the colonies could better defend themselves with a single army and navy.
Thousands of Chinese migrants came to Australia during the gold rush. People wanted to restrict the economic competition of migrants from Asia. The best way to do this was for all the colonies to act together and work out a common immigration policy. Uniting the six colonies was not easy and there were many fights and walkouts in negotiations along the way.
After a series of conferences and meetings, a draft Australian Federal Constitution was drawn up. Then a series of referendums were put to the people, until finally, in , there was a majority agreement for Federation. See Vict. Certificates of exemption.
A certificate of exemption shall be expressed to be in force for a specified period only, and may at any time be cancelled by the Minister by writing under his hand. Upon the expiration or cancellation of any such certificate, the person named therein may, if found within the Commonwealth, be treated as a prohibited immigrant offending against this Act:.
Provided that in the case of a person entering the Commonwealth from any vessel under this section no penalty shall attach to the vessel or its master owners or charterers. Immigrants evading the officers or found within the Commonwealth. Any immigrant who evades an officer or who enters the Commonwealth at any place where no officer is stationed may if at any time thereafter he is found within the Commonwealth be asked to comply with the requirements of paragraph a of section three, and shall if he fails to do so be deemed to be a prohibited immigrant offending against this Act.
Any immigrant may at any time within one year after he has entered the Commonwealth he asked to comply with the requirements of paragraph a of section three, and shall if he fails to do so be deemed to be a prohibited immigrant offending against this Act. Entry permitted on certain conditions.
Any prohibited immigrant within the meaning of paragraph a only of section three may if thought fit by an officer be allowed to enter the Commonwealth or to remain within the Commonwealth upon the following conditions:—. Unlawful entry of prohibited immigrants. See Natal ib. Every prohibited immigrant entering or found within the Commonwealth in contravention or evasion of this Act shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and shall be liable upon summary conviction to imprisonment for not more than six months, and in addition to or substitution for such imprisonment shall be liable pursuant to any order of the Minister to be deported from the Commonwealth.
Provided that the imprisonment shall cease for the purpose of deportation, or if the offender finds two approved sureties each in the sum of Fifty pounds for his leaving the Commonwealth within one month. Certain persons may be deported. Any person who is not a British subject either natural-born or naturalized under a law of the United Kingdom or of the Commonwealth or of a State, and who is convicted of any crime of violence against the person, shall be liable, upon the expiration of any term of imprisonment imposed on him therefor, to be required to write out at dictation and sign in the presence of an officer a passage of fifty words in length in an European language directed by the officer, and if he fails to do so shall be deemed to be a prohibited immigrant and shall be deported from the Commonwealth pursuant to any order of the Minister.
Penalty on masters and owners of ships. Natal ib. This was the first of a number of steps that gradually eroded the policy until its basic dismantling by the Holt government in The Whitlam government completely eliminated it in the s with the introduction of policies like the Racial Discrimination Act George Megalogenis shares his top three defining moments, among them the White Australia policy.
Timeline of Australian migration history PDF kb. Sample passages from the dictation test, National Archives of Australia. The National Museum of Australia acknowledges First Australians and recognises their continuous connection to country, community and culture. Defining Moments White Australia policy. See our classroom resource. Why a 'white Australia'? Demographic impact The White Australia policy had an immediate impact, rapidly changing demographics. George Megalogenis's top 3 Defining moments Curriculum subjects.
Year levels. In our collection. Australia for the Australians, White Australia Circular brass badge that has a small decorative scroll across the top, which contains a hole that the badge can be suspended from.
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