Terra Nullius
In 1770 Captain James Cook landed in Botany Bay, home of the Eora people, and claimed possession of the East Coast of Australia for Britain under the doctrine of 'terra nullius'
According to the international law of Europe in the late 18th century, there were only three ways that Britain could take possession of another country:
Source:
The myth of terra nullius NSW Board of Studies, 1995
Reproduced in the Sydney Morning Herald, 26 October 1996
Racism. no way. CESCEO
Theme: Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders - Australian history and race relations
According to the international law of Europe in the late 18th century, there were only three ways that Britain could take possession of another country:
- If the country was uninhabited, Britain could claim and settle that country. In this case, it could claim ownership of the land.
- If the country was already inhabited, Britain could ask for permission from the indigenous people to use some of their land. In this case, Britain could purchase land for its own use but it could not steal the land of the indigenous people.
- If the country was inhabited, Britain could take over the country by invasion and conquest- in other words, defeat that country in war. However, even after winning a war, Britain would have to respect the rights of indigenous people.
Source:
The myth of terra nullius NSW Board of Studies, 1995
Reproduced in the Sydney Morning Herald, 26 October 1996
Racism. no way. CESCEO
Theme: Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders - Australian history and race relations
colonial atrocities (myaLl creek massacre)
On 10 June 1838 a group of white settlers murdered 28 Aboriginal men, women and children near Myall Creek Station in northern New South Wales, near Bingara. Seven of the killers were tried and hanged. The Myall Creek Massacre now serves as both a harrowing reminder of Australia’s colonial violence towards Aboriginal people and an example of modern-day reconciliation. In 1838 white people had settled Australia for just 51 years. Pastoralists were pushing into Aboriginal land, dispossessing Indigenous people from the land that nurtured them physically and spiritually. Aboriginal people did not give up their land that they had looked after for millennia without a fight. White settlers engaged in many clashes with Aboriginal people at the frontier. Fearing to be outnumbered by Aboriginal tribes some settlers escalated low-level skirmishes to the atrocities we now know as Australia’s massacres of Aboriginal people.
assimilation policy
The assimilation policy was a policy of absorbing Aboriginal people into white society through the process of removing children from their families. The ultimate intent of this policy was the destruction of Aboriginal society. The Aborigines Protection Board officially adopted this policy in 1951. From this time the Board substantially increased the already established practice of removing Aboriginal children with fair skin, referred to at the time as 'half-caste' or 'part Aboriginal', from their families. Children were placed in institutions where they could be 'trained' to take their place in white society.
missonary camps
Crusaders Camp Mission Hostel at Otford, near Sydney's Royal National Park, was used by the Church Missionary Society in 1942 to house 98 Aboriginal children who had been evacuated from Croker Island, north of Darwin in the Northern Territory. The evacuees, who were accompanied by the Croker Island Mission staff, were wards of the Commonwealth Government. These children, who were aged 1 to 16, were defined at the time as 'half-castes'. The evacuees had left by 1946.
The Cairns Post and The Argus of 20 May 1942 reported that 98 'half-caste' children from the Methodist Mission on Croker Island, Northern Territory, had arrived in Melbourne, after travelling seven weeks by lugger, truck, rail and foot via the Methodist Inland Mission in Alice Springs. The children were aged from 1-16 and the newspaper reported they would be sent to Sydney, to Otford (which The Cairns Post called 'Oxford'), under the care of Mr K. Wale, superintendent of Croker Island Mission. Wale told the newspaper they would be 'educated and fitted to take their place in society, which he considers has been denied them in the past.' The carers included Miss Margaret Somerville, who had been with the children since Croker Island, and Misses Olive Peek and J Marsh. Children from Croker Island attended the Otford Public School during their stay in the hostel.
The Cairns Post and The Argus of 20 May 1942 reported that 98 'half-caste' children from the Methodist Mission on Croker Island, Northern Territory, had arrived in Melbourne, after travelling seven weeks by lugger, truck, rail and foot via the Methodist Inland Mission in Alice Springs. The children were aged from 1-16 and the newspaper reported they would be sent to Sydney, to Otford (which The Cairns Post called 'Oxford'), under the care of Mr K. Wale, superintendent of Croker Island Mission. Wale told the newspaper they would be 'educated and fitted to take their place in society, which he considers has been denied them in the past.' The carers included Miss Margaret Somerville, who had been with the children since Croker Island, and Misses Olive Peek and J Marsh. Children from Croker Island attended the Otford Public School during their stay in the hostel.
white australia policy
The 'White Australia' policy describes Australia's approach to immigration, from federation until the latter part of the 20th century, which favoured applicants from certain countries.
The origins of the 'White Australia' policy can be traced to the 1850s. White miners' resentment towards Chinese diggers led to violence on the Buckland River in Victoria, and at Lambing Flat (now Young) in New South Wales. The governments of these two colonies introduced restrictions on Chinese immigration. Later, indentured labourers from the South Sea Islands of the Pacific (known as 'kanakas') in northern Queensland were also resented. Factory workers in the south became opposed to all forms of immigration, which might threaten their jobs - particularly by 'non-white' people (people other than Anglo-Celtic or northern European) who they thought would accept a lower standard of living and work for lower wages.
In 1901, the new federal government passed the Immigration Restriction Act which ended the employment of Pacific Islanders and placed tight controls on certain immigrants. The Act prohibited those considered to be insane, anyone likely to become a charge upon the public or upon any public or charitable institution, and any person suffering from an infectious or contagious disease 'of a loathsome or dangerous character' entry to Australia. It also prohibited prostitutes, criminals, and anyone under a contract or agreement to perform manual labour within Australia (with some limited exceptions).
Other restrictions included a dictation test, used to exclude certain applicants by requiring them to pass a written test in a language, with which they were not necessarily familiar, nominated by an immigration officer. With these severe measures the implementation of the 'White Australia' policy was warmly applauded in most sections of the community. In 1919, Prime Minister Hughes, hailed it as 'the greatest thing we have achieved'.
After the outbreak of hostilities with Japan in 1941, Prime Minister Curtin reinforced the philosophy of the 'White Australia' policy, saying ' this country shall remain forever the home of the descendants of those people who came here in peace in order to establish in the South Seas an outpost of the British race'. During World War II, many non-white refugees entered Australia. Most left voluntarily at the end of the war, but many had married Australians and wanted to stay. The Immigration Minister of the newly created immigration portfolio sought to deport them, arousing much protest. However, the major period of government sponsored post-war immigration to provide much-needed popultion growth and labour, resulted in a progressive relaxation of the policy as more and more souces of migrants were sought.
In 1949, the new Immigration Minister, Holt's decision to allow 800 non-European refugees to stay, and Japanese war brides to be admitted, was the first official step towards a non-discriminatory immigration policy.
The next major step was in 1957 when non-Europeans with 15 years residence in Australia were allowed to become Australian citizens.The revised Migration Act of 1958 introduced a simpler system of entry permits and abolished the controversial dictation test. The revised Act avoided references to race. After a review of the non-European policy in March 1966, Immigration Minister Opperman announced applications for migration would be accepted from well-qualified people on the basis of their suitability as settlers, their ability to integrate readily and their possession of qualifications positively useful to Australia. At the same time, the government decided a number of 'temporary resident' non-Europeans, who were not required to leave Australia, could become permanent residents and citizens after five years (the same as for Europeans). The government also eased restrictions on immigration of non-Europeans. The number of non-Europeans allowed to immigrate was to be 'somewhat greater than previously'. The March 1966 announcement was the watershed in abolishing the 'White Australia' policy, and non-European migration began to increase.
The origins of the 'White Australia' policy can be traced to the 1850s. White miners' resentment towards Chinese diggers led to violence on the Buckland River in Victoria, and at Lambing Flat (now Young) in New South Wales. The governments of these two colonies introduced restrictions on Chinese immigration. Later, indentured labourers from the South Sea Islands of the Pacific (known as 'kanakas') in northern Queensland were also resented. Factory workers in the south became opposed to all forms of immigration, which might threaten their jobs - particularly by 'non-white' people (people other than Anglo-Celtic or northern European) who they thought would accept a lower standard of living and work for lower wages.
In 1901, the new federal government passed the Immigration Restriction Act which ended the employment of Pacific Islanders and placed tight controls on certain immigrants. The Act prohibited those considered to be insane, anyone likely to become a charge upon the public or upon any public or charitable institution, and any person suffering from an infectious or contagious disease 'of a loathsome or dangerous character' entry to Australia. It also prohibited prostitutes, criminals, and anyone under a contract or agreement to perform manual labour within Australia (with some limited exceptions).
Other restrictions included a dictation test, used to exclude certain applicants by requiring them to pass a written test in a language, with which they were not necessarily familiar, nominated by an immigration officer. With these severe measures the implementation of the 'White Australia' policy was warmly applauded in most sections of the community. In 1919, Prime Minister Hughes, hailed it as 'the greatest thing we have achieved'.
After the outbreak of hostilities with Japan in 1941, Prime Minister Curtin reinforced the philosophy of the 'White Australia' policy, saying ' this country shall remain forever the home of the descendants of those people who came here in peace in order to establish in the South Seas an outpost of the British race'. During World War II, many non-white refugees entered Australia. Most left voluntarily at the end of the war, but many had married Australians and wanted to stay. The Immigration Minister of the newly created immigration portfolio sought to deport them, arousing much protest. However, the major period of government sponsored post-war immigration to provide much-needed popultion growth and labour, resulted in a progressive relaxation of the policy as more and more souces of migrants were sought.
In 1949, the new Immigration Minister, Holt's decision to allow 800 non-European refugees to stay, and Japanese war brides to be admitted, was the first official step towards a non-discriminatory immigration policy.
The next major step was in 1957 when non-Europeans with 15 years residence in Australia were allowed to become Australian citizens.The revised Migration Act of 1958 introduced a simpler system of entry permits and abolished the controversial dictation test. The revised Act avoided references to race. After a review of the non-European policy in March 1966, Immigration Minister Opperman announced applications for migration would be accepted from well-qualified people on the basis of their suitability as settlers, their ability to integrate readily and their possession of qualifications positively useful to Australia. At the same time, the government decided a number of 'temporary resident' non-Europeans, who were not required to leave Australia, could become permanent residents and citizens after five years (the same as for Europeans). The government also eased restrictions on immigration of non-Europeans. The number of non-Europeans allowed to immigrate was to be 'somewhat greater than previously'. The March 1966 announcement was the watershed in abolishing the 'White Australia' policy, and non-European migration began to increase.