Earlson Forbes, whose title in THE CEYLANKAN, vol 27/2, May 2024 is “Fortress White Australia: What early Ceylonese migrants [1949 t0 1969] were up against” … [now … with most of the author’s documentary illustrations]
The Six Australian Colonies came together on the 1st of January 1901 to form the independent Nation of the Commonwealth of Australia. From 1788 (First Fleet arrival at Sydney Cove) to the time of Federation, Australia was populated by convict and free settlers almost exclusively from Britain. The 1901 census put the population at 3.7 million. Aboriginals were not counted in this census. A small percentage of the population was made up of Pacific Islanders and Chinese. The Chinese entered Australia in the second half of the 19th century at the time of the Gold Rush in Australia (mid-19th century) and in the years following. Between 1851 and 1870 about 50,000 Chinese were estimated to have entered Australia. Pacific Islanders had been brought to Australia in the second half of the 19th century as labourers.
From its inception the Nation of Australia embarked on a highly protective policy regarding entry into the country. Within one year of formation of the Nation, the Australian Parliament passed two Acts limiting immigration. These two Acts were The Immigration Restriction Act 1901, and the Pacific Islander Labourers Act 1901. The Pacific Islander Labourers Act aimed specifically at putting a stop to admission of persons from this region. The Act stated, ‘No Pacific Island Labourer shall enter Australia on or after the thirty first day of March one thousand nine hundred and four’.
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