two major political developments

Two Major Australian political developments after 1901




The Australian Immigration Restriction Act (1901-1958)

The Australian Immigration Restriction Act was a strict policy imposed by the newly formed Australian government aimed to keep all non-European immigrants from entering Australia. It was strong belief in Australia at the time that white people were superior to other races, and that in order to keep the country 'pure', no coloured people should be allowed entry into Australia. The mechanism used to enforce this act was a fifty-word long English language dictation test. By use of dictation tests, Australia could protect itself from criticism from other countries; claiming that non-Europeans were excluded from entry to Australia due to literacy skill, as opposed to race. The test was not only limited to non-Europeans seeking entry to Australia, it could be issued to anyone who was seen as 'socially undesirable'. This included; the mentally ill, those suffering from inf...