What was the purpose of the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901?
About the White Australia policy The Immigration Restriction Act was one of the first Commonwealth laws passed after Federation. It was based on the existing laws of the colonies. The aim of the law was to limit non-white (particularly Asian) immigration to Australia, to help keep Australia ‘British’.
What is the White Australia Policy 1901?
The Act came into law on 23 December 1901. The Act gave immigration officers the power to make any non-European migrant sit a 50-word dictation test. This was initially given in any European language, and after 1905 in any prescribed language.
Why did the Australian government encourage immigration during the gold rush?
They noticed that large areas of land were not being used and wanted the chance to establish farms like the squatters had done before them. With an increased population came further demand for land, food, clothes and buildings and the Australian economy grew to accommodate these needs.
Who were the first settlers in Western Australia?
The human history of Western Australia commenced between 40,000 and 60,000 years ago with the arrival of Indigenous Australians on the northwest coast. The first inhabitants expanded across the east and south of the continent.
Why did Australia abolish the White Australia Policy?
Early drafts of the Act explicitly banned non-Europeans from migrating to Australia but objections from the British government, which feared that such a measure would offend British subjects in India and Britain’s allies in Japan, caused the Barton government to remove this wording.
How did the Immigration Restriction Act affect Australia?
White Australia policy, formally Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, in Australian history, fundamental legislation of the new Commonwealth of Australia that effectively stopped all non-European immigration into the country and that contributed to the development of a racially insulated white society.
Who brought in the White Australia Policy?
The Immigration Restriction Bill, which enacted the white Australia policy, was initiated in the House of Representatives by Prime Minister Edmund Barton on 5 June 1901, nine sitting days after the Duke of York had opened the Australian Parliament on 9 May 1901.
Why did the British migrate to Australia in the 1900s?
With high unemployment in Britain at the time, many people saw migration to Australia as a chance for a better life. The majority of the free settlers from the British Isles came from England, but tens of thousands came from Ireland as well.
Who immigrated to Australia during the gold rush?
Within a year, more than 500,000 people (nicknamed “diggers”) rushed to the gold fields of Australia. Most of these immigrants were British, but many prospectors from the United States, Germany, Poland, and China also settled in NSW and Victoria. Even more immigrants arrived from other parts of Australia.
What was Perth originally called?
On 25 December 1826 Major Edmund Lockyer, in the brig Amity, established a military outpost at King George Sound (now Albany), known locally by Menang Noongar peoples as Kinjarling ‘the place of rain’.
When was Perth first settled?
1829
European Settlement The city of Perth has its origins in 1829 when the Swan River Colony was established by the British Government.
When did apartheid end in Australia?
1994
Australia introduced its White Australia policy with the ratification of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901. South Africa officially introduced apartheid much later, after the general election of 1948, to be repealed in 1994.