Australia: A History of Immigration

50 000 BC 1700 1750 1800 1850 1900 1950 2000

Approximately 50 000 years ago ancestors of Aboriginal peoples arrive

January 26, 1788

First Fleet arrive in Sydney Cove

January 1 1901

Federation of Australia

1851

The Gold Rush

Post WW2 Immigration Populate or

Perish

1975-85

South-East Asian

refugees

Post 2001Refugees from the

Middle East

Glossary

Immigration Timeline Task •Create a timeline outlining important immigration periods in Australian history. (Use the events we studied during the first lesson and, if you know it, add the time your family arrived).

•Create a hyperlink from each period to a separate page.

•On each page give more detail about that particular period, outlining: 1. The reasons for the event/ migration2. Number of immigrants coming to Australia 3. Attitudes of Australians at the time 4. Government policy at the time 5. An image6. Legacy (a brief description of what that particular group has added to Australian culture

Eg. Workforce, artists, food

•In the case of governmental action or developments, outline the significance of these events in relation to immigration policy – ie Federation

To complete the task:

The First Fleet

For approximately 50 000 years the first Australians lived in relative peace. After Captain James Cook discovered the east coast of New South Wales in 1770

a new fate of the continent was sealed. He reported to the British Government that New South Wales would be a suitable place for habitation and so it was decided to send eleven vessels, 9 of which contained criminals, to ease the pressure on English gaols. (1) reason. Previously the British had used America to dump its prisoners, but as America had defeated Britain in theAmerican war of Independence (1775-1783), Britain was forced to stop this practice.

Captain Arthur Phillip was commissioned oversee the monumental journey to New South Wales and

establish a colony. The first Governor of New South Wales lead an expedition of eleven vessels containing approximately 780 convicts, 180 of whom were women, and approximately 200 marines and officers. (Turner,B. 1992) (2) number

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Federation and the Immigration Restriction Act

On the First of January 1901 the six colonies federated to form the Nation of Australia. Immigration policy was a principle duty of the newly formed Federal Government. One of the first laws that it passed was the Immigration Restriction Act 1901. The purpose of the act was to preserve British culture and Influence. They achieved this by including a dictation test that potential immigrants had to pass (p14, Brash, 2009). In a further act to restrict ‘undesirable people’ from immigrating, the Australian Government allowed the immigration officials to set the dictation test in any European language they liked. This way they could force an English speaking person to sit the exam in an obscure language and thus fail. This policy of restriction became unofficially known as the White Australia Policy and was in use until the Whitlam Government. In 1901 the Pacific Island Labourers Act was also passed. This policy saw the removal of thousands of Pacific Islander workers known as Kanakas.

The Immigration Restriction Act and White Australia Policy had widespread support. Powerful publications such as The Bulletin encourages nationalistic purity to both protect British Culture but also to protect Australian workers from cheap overseas labour (p20, Brash, 2009).

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Glossary

Asylum SeekerRefugeeUNHCRMulticulturalismBoat PeopleTemporary Protection Visa

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