White Australia policy
Topic: Settler Colonialism: Native Peoples of America and Australia · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 6 "Displacing Indigenous Peoples"
Meaning
The White Australia policy was the Australian government's practice of keeping "non-white" people out of the country. Settlers feared that outsiders would take their jobs and change their way of life, and the policy grew out of that fear. It started with limits on Chinese immigration in the 1850s, after Chinese workers had been brought in as cheap labour. The policy lasted until 1974.
Example
Chinese "coolie" immigration to Australia began in 1851, and a law of 1855 stopped it. When the White Australia policy ended in 1974, Asian immigrants were admitted. Multiculturalism then became official policy.
Don't confuse with
- Terra nullius: the White Australia policy kept non-white immigrants out. Terra nullius was the legal claim that Australia had belonged to nobody, and it was used to deny natives their land. The High Court struck it down in 1992.