The Establishment And Demolition Of White Austrilia Policy: An Analysis Of Its History And Legacies

On January 1,1901,the Commonwealth of Australia government was formally established,and then the Congress quickly passed “Immigration Restriction Bill”,which radicated “White Australia” as the basic national policy.The policy intends to set a single white race country by exclusion of Asia,Africa and Pacific Islander immigrants;it was not abolished from the legal level until 1973.The gist of “White Australia” policy is to protect the purity of the Australian white race,maintain the interests of the white people,and enhance national cohesion.Meanwhile,it inevitably hurt the non-white population;its exclusiveness and narrowness resulted in the split between the white and the non-white groups,broght obstacles to sustainable development of the country.As the most important spiritual product in a new country,“White Australia” reflected the social reality.It is an important symbol of Australian nationality,and plays positive role of the national independence.Similarly,its abolishment responds to social concern.The main reason of the “White Australia” policy can be divided into four categories: firstly,it based on Social Darwinism and white supremacism,which was popular in the western society at that time;secondly,it related to the Australian Federation Movement,incoming contract Chinese laborers(coolie)and international anti-Chinese environment;thirdly,it attribute to economic reasons and geographical conditions;and finally,the religion and cultural conflicts should take into consideration.In order to deeply understand Australian social reality and correctly interpret history,this paper will focus on the analyses of the reasons and the formation of “White Australia” policy as well as its legacies.