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| Article found in the Sunday Sun 17 June 1945 |
Commonwealth Government of Australia. (1945). Oppose tilts at White Australia: A.L.P for Race Purity, 2011, from http://vrroom.naa.gov.au/records/?ID=19458
This newspaper artefact highlights the conflict that evolved over the policy between the Australian labour Party and the Communist Party. It was national belief at the time, that an abolishment of the policy could allow for non Europeans to dominate the country, and the Japanese at that!
There was an important point made in the article with Mr Roper stating “we have to remember Australia stands adjacent today to two thirds of the human race most of whom are coloured” (Commonwealth Government of Australia, 1945). In contrast, was the fact that by the early 1900’s the Japanese divers showed unrivalled skill in diving in the pearl industry in Broome, they were exempted from immigration restrictions (Australian Government, 2009). This highlights how the government at the time had the ultimate power and tenacity to allow whomever they valued or needed to achieve their goals for the nation.
These days Australia's current Migration Program allows anyone from any country to apply for migration to Australia, no matter their ethnicity, culture, religion or language, as long as they meet legal criteria.
