[Editor: This chapter is part of The White Australia Policy: The Rise and Fall of Australia’s Racial Ideology (2025).]
The reasons behind the White Australia Policy
There were several reasons why a White Australia Policy was widely supported by Australians.
1) Race. The obvious reason for having a White Australia Policy was that most Australians wanted to keep the nation as racially white as possible, to ensure that the country was of a homogeneous character. Concerns were expressed over non-white immigration creating a hybrid society, where miscegenation (race-mixing) was rife. Various public figures spoke about “racial purity” and wanting to ensure that Australia was kept as a “white man’s country”. Racial problems experienced by the USA, due to it having a black minority, were cited as a reason for having a restrictive immigration policy.
2) Economics and living standards. Another major reason for the White Australia Policy was economics. Working-class whites wanted to keep cheap labour out of the country, as it was widely perceived that Asians immigrants (especially Chinese and Indians) would work for pay rates that were substantially less than those enjoyed by whites in Australia. This was a real concern for Australian workers, because if the labour market was a free-for-all, with a massive influx of Asians, then wages could be driven downwards, as employers could hire Asians at low rates, and then the white workers would have to work for the same rates, or else suffer from unemployment. Asian immigration was viewed as a threat to the standard of living of Australian workers.
3) Working conditions. Connected to the economic issue was the concern of the white working class that Asian workers could undermine the high working conditions which had been created by the labour movement in Australia over decades of struggle. Asians in Oriental countries were typically accustomed to working in poor conditions, and therefore it was believed that most Asian migrants entering Australia brought with them a cultural acceptance and expectation of poor working conditions. It was thought that the more Asians there were working in Australia, the more the employers could save money by spending less on workers’ amenities, resulting in a lowering of working conditions across the country.
4) Defence. Defence was not only a major reason for the federation of the Australian colonies; it was also a reason for supporting a White Australia Policy. If Chinese or Japanese immigrants and their offspring came to be a significant percentage of the Australian nation, then how many of them would betray Australia if China or Japan were to invade? The answer is unknown, but the question was enough to place real concerns in the minds of Australians interested in national defence.
5) Culture. A further reason was culture. Australia was widely regarded as a “British” land with a “British” culture (being British in a wider sense, of sharing blood ties with the British peoples, and being a part of the British family of nations). Although there was also a rising view which recognised the emergence of a distinctive Australian culture, that culture was viewed by many as a “British culture” (in a wider sense, just as other countries of the Anglosphere were viewed as having British cultures). There were legitimate concerns that if Australia became significantly Asian (for example, 10%, 20%, or 50% Asian), then the customs and culture of one’s neighbourhood and nation would inevitably change.
6) Religion. Yet another factor was religion. Australia was predominantly a Christian country, with Christian values and traditions; having a high influx of immigrants from non-Christian countries could result in Christianity losing its special position within local communities, as well as on the national level, which would thereby diminish the importance of Christianity in Australian society. Although connected to the wider category of culture, the maintenance of Christianity was especially significant, because religion held a very important place in people’s lives in the early years of Australia.
7) Democracy and freedoms. There were also concerns that non-Europeans did not share the same political aspirations and traditions that had developed in Britain and Australia (for example, the rights that flowed from common law and the Magna Carta; free speech, democratic voting, and parliamentary representation; as well as trade unionism and workers’ rights). If non-whites, with politically-subservient mind-sets and traditions, entered the country en masse, then their cultural and political expectations and traditions could mean the election of non-whites with anti-democratic attitudes, leading to a lessening of the democratic rights enjoyed in Australia.
In the end, all of these multifaceted reasons came together under one banner, with one simple solution — the implementation of a White Australia Policy. The Policy combined a number of aspects, and therefore it was widely supported by the populace for a number of different reasons.
Subsequently, even though the major political parties differed in various ways on a large number of issues, they all supported the White Australia Policy. Therefore, as the parties couldn’t attack each other for not supporting the Policy, they instead often attacked each other for not being staunch enough supporters of the Policy, or for wanting to use different ways to implement the Policy (it seems that even when politicians are in agreement, they will still find a way to engage in hurling accusations and insults).
The notion of a White Australia was not only supported by the politicians, but also by most newspapers of the time. Judging from newspaper reports of public meetings, as well as widespread support for politicians who made a White Australia a major part of their platform, it also appears that the vast majority of Australians supported the concept of having a White Australia Policy. Even up to the 1980s, opinion polling showed that the majority of Australians were in favour of the country being predominantly white.
With such extensive support for a White Australia, it was inevitable that legislation to enable that goal would be high on the agenda for the new federal parliament.
Even up to the 1980s, opinion polling showed that the majority of Australians were in favour of the country being predominantly white.
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