NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Immigration Restriction Act 1901

The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which limited immigration to Australia and formed the basis of the White Australia policy. It also provided for illegal immigrants to be deported. It granted immigration officers a wide discretion to prevent individuals from entering Australia. The Act prohibited various classes of people from immigrating, but most importantly it introduced the dictation test, which required a person seeking entry to Australia to write out a passage of fifty words dictated to them in any European language, not necessarily English, at the discretion of an immigration officer. The test allowed immigration officers to discriminate against applicants by selecting a language that they couldn't possibly understand. Parliament House Canberra: The main entrance and the flag The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of Australia. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (922x693, 1523 KB) Summary Transparent copy of [1] Edited by Ansett 1means the typographical arrangement and layout of a published work. ... The long title (properly, the title) is one of the parts, together with the short title, and the operative provisions (sections and Schedules), which comprise an Act of Parliament or Bill in the United Kingdom and certain other Commonwealth Realms. ... Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, PC, QC (18 January 1849 â€“ 7 January 1920), Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia. ... August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... // The granting of Royal Assent is the formal method by which a constitutional monarch completes the legislative process of lawmaking by formally assenting to an Act of Parliament. ... December 23 is the 357th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (358th in leap years). ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1908 (MCMVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1930 (MCMXXX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link is to a full 1930 calendar). ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ... Year 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1935 (MCMXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Year 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Year 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... Parliament House Canberra: The main entrance and the flag The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of Australia. ... This badge from 1906 shows the use of the expression White Australia at that time The White Australia policy is a generic term used to describe a collection of historical legislation and policies, intended to restrict non-white immigration to Australia, and to promote white immigration, from 1830 to 1973. ... Illegal immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently, in violation of the law or without documents permitting an immigrant to settle in that country. ... Deportation is the expelling of someone from a country. ... Speech recognition technologies allow computers equipped with a source of sound input, such as a microphone, to interpret human speech, e. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

History of the Act

The Government of Australia did not want to explicitly prevent immigration on the basis of race, because the Government of the United Kingdom would not approve, since it might cause tension with some of Britain's allies, such as Japan. ^[1] At the time, Australia was still a Dominion of the British Empire, and the British government had substantial authority over Australia. Prime Minister Edmund Barton did not want to risk damaging relations between the newly federated Commonwealth and the British government. Nevertheless, all sides of politics in Australia were opposed to non-white immigration, particularly from China and India. Barton, leader of the Protectionist Party, declared the need "to secure the future of our fair country against the tide of inferior and unequal Asians arriving from the north," Free Trade Party Opposition leader George Reid said that he did not want "the problem caused by coloured people in the United States" to happen again in Australia. ^[2] Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... The term race serves to distinguish between populations or groups of people based on different sets of characteristics which is commonly determined through social conventions. ... The agencies responsible for the government of the United Kingdom consist of a number of ministerial departments (usually headed by a Secretary of State) and non-ministerial departments headed by senior civil servants. ... A dominion, often Dominion, is the territory or the authority of a dominus (a lord or master). ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution State and territory governments Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. ... Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, PC, QC (18 January 1849 â€“ 7 January 1920), Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia. ... The federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed a federation. ... The Protectionist Party was a political party in Australia from the 1880s until 1909. ... The Free Trade Party was a political party in Australia from the 1880s until 1909. ... The Opposition in Australia fulfils the same function as the official opposition in other Commonwealth of Nations monarchies. ... Sir George Houstoun Reid (25 February 1845â€“12 September 1918), Australian politician and fourth Prime Minister of Australia, was born in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, son of a Church of Scotland minister, migrated to Victoria with his family as a child. ...

There were some politicians who did not support the Act. Senator Edward Pulsford expressed sympathy for foreign citizens who were discriminated against in Australia, and considered the Act "insulting and brutal." Pulsford was himself insulted in the Senate for opposing the Act. ^[3] Some politicians, such as Attorney-General Alfred Deakin, did not necessarily consider non-white people to be inherently inferior. However, they still supported the Act, because they believed that many of them were skilled workers who would work for lower rates of pay, and would take away jobs from white Australians. Most of the other opposition to the Act was from people who did not consider the provisions to be harsh enough; for example Senator Staniforth Smith said that "If the question is not dealt with boldly and fearlessly now when the Asiatic nations are waking up, there will be an influx of coloured people which will mean an alteration in our national destiny." ^[4] Australian Senate chamber Entrance to the Senate The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. ... The Attorney-General of Australia is the chief law officer of the Crown and a member of the Federal Cabinet. ... Alfred William Deakin (3 August 1856â€“7 October 1919), Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later second Prime Minister of Australia. ...

Provisions of the Act

The initial bill was based on similar legislation in South Africa. The Act specifically prohibited various classes of people from immigrating, including people with infectious diseases, people who had recently been imprisoned, prostitutes or pimps, and "idiots" or "insane" persons. However, the Act also made several exceptions, which automatically allowed certain classes of people to enter Australia. All members of the British Army or the Royal Navy, the captain and crew of any ship visiting an Australian port, any person sent on the business of a foreign government, family members of permitted immigrants, and former residents of Australia were allowed to enter the country. Prospective immigrants were also allowed to apply for a Certificate of Exemption, issued by the Minister for External Affairs (or a representative) which would exempt a person from the provisions of the Act for a specified time. Legislation (or statutory law) is law which has been promulgated (or enacted) by a legislature or other governing body. ... This false-colored electron micrograph shows a malaria sporozoite migrating through the midgut epithelia. ... Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick, Canada is an institution that is part of Corrections Canada. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ... A pimp finds and manages clients for a prostitute and engages them in prostitution (in brothels in most cases and some cases street prostitution) in order to profit from their earnings. ... Idiot is a word derived from the Greek , idiÅtÄ“s (person lacking professional skill, a private citizen, individual), from , idios (private, ones own).[1] In Latin the word idiota (ordinary person, layman) preceded the Late Latin meaning uneducated or ignorant person. ... Insanity, or madness, is a general term for a semi-permanent, severe mental disorder. ... The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ...

Offences

The Act established a range of federal crimes relating to immigration. Illegal immigrants could be imprisoned for up to six months, and could then be deported. Both the captain and the owners of ships which transported illegal immigrants to Australia could be fined GBP 100 for each immigrant, unless the immigrant was European. The Minister for Foreign Affairs was also able to detain ships which were suspected of carrying illegal immigrants. People who brought ill or insane immigrants into Australia were also liable for the costs of caring for them, on top of other penalties. GBP may be: short for Game Boy Player the ISO currency code for the British Pound Sterling. ...

The dictation test

The dictation test which was included in the Act was similar to tests previously used in the states of Western Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania. The test was a method which enabled immigration officials to exclude individuals on the basis of race without explicitly saying so. The test would be no less than fifty words long, and the passage chosen could often be very difficult, so that even if the test was given in English, a person was likely to fail. Although the test could theoretically be given to any person arriving in Australia, in practice it was given selectively on the basis of race. ^[5] The states and territories of Australia make up the Commonwealth of Australia under a federal system of government. ... Capital Perth Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Ken Michael Premier Alan Carpenter (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 15 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $100,900 (4th) - Product per capita $50,355/person (3rd) Population (December 2006) - Population 2,050,900 (4th) - Density 0. ... Capital Sydney Government Const. ... Capital Hobart Government Const. ...

Czechoslovakian political activist Egon Erwin Kisch, who was exiled from Germany for opposing Nazism, arrived in Australia in 1934. He was fluent in a number of European languages, and after completing passages in several languages, finally failed when he was tested in Scottish Gaelic. The officer who tested him had grown up in northern Scotland, and did not have a particularly good grasp of Scottish Gaelic himself. In the High Court case of R v Wilson; ex parte Kisch the court found that Scottish Gaelic was not within the fair meaning of the Act, and overturned Kisch's convictions for being an illegal immigrant. Czechoslovakia (Czech: Československo, Slovak: Česko-Slovensko/before 1990 Československo) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1992 (except for the World War II period). ... Egon Erwin Kisch ( Prague, April 29, 1885 - March 31, 1948) was a Czechoslovakian writer and journalist, who wrote in German. ... Exile (band) may refer to: Exile - The American country music band Exile - The Japanese pop music band Category: ... National Socialism redirects here. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... // Scottish Gaelic (GÃ idhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government - Queen Queen Elizabeth II - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification - by Kenneth I 843 Area - Total 78,772 km... High Court entrance The High Court of Australia is the final court of appeal in Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. ...

Between 1902 and 1903, forty-six people passed the test out of 805 who were given it. Between 1904 and 1909, only six out of 554 passed. No-one was able to pass the dictation test after 1909. ^[6] 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Year 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1909 (MCMIX) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Changes to the Act

Originally the dictation test could be administered any time within the first year of a person's arrival to Australia, but after 1932, this period was extended to the first five years of residence. Officials were also able to give the test to an individual an unlimited number of times. At first the test had to be given in a European language; however, in 1905, the Act was amended to allow the government to specify any individual language that the test could be given in.

The Immigration Restriction Act was eventually replaced by the Migration Act 1958, which removed the dictation test and many of the other qualifications, although many migrants from southern Europe and Asia were already living in Australia, some of them having arrived as refugees during World War II. The White Australia policy itself was not officially abolished until 1966. This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... World map showing the location of Asia. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki TÅjÅ Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...

Notes

July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

Categories: 1901 in Australia | 1901 in law | Australian legislation | Immigration to Australia July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Contents

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