Editing White Australia policy (section)

==Abolition of the policy==

===World War II===
Australian anxiety at the prospect of Japanese expansionism and war in the Pacific continued through the 1930s. Hughes, by then a minister in the [[United Australia Party]]'s [[Lyons government]], made a notable contribution to Australia's attitude towards immigration in a 1935 speech in which he argued that "Australia must{{Spaces}}... populate or perish."

Between the [[Great Depression]] starting in 1929 and the end of World War II in 1945, global conditions kept immigration to very low levels.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web
|url= http://www.immi.gov.au/statistics/publications/federation/timeline1.pdf
|title=Immigration to Australia During the 20th Century
|publisher=Australian Department of Immigration
|access-date =14 June 2006
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060417084627/http://www.immi.gov.au/statistics/publications/federation/timeline1.pdf <!— Bot retrieved archive —> |archive-date = 17 April 2006}}</ref> At the start of the war, Prime Minister [[John Curtin]] ([[Australian Labor Party|ALP]]) reinforced the message of the White Australia Policy by 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."<ref name="abolition">{{cite web
|url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/08abolition.htm
|title=Abolition of the 'White Australia' Policy
|publisher=Australian Department of Immigration
|access-date=14 June 2006
|archive-date=1 September 2006
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901105340/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/08abolition.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

Following the 1942 [[Fall of Singapore]], Australians feared invasion by [[Imperial Japan]]. Australian cities were bombed by the [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force|Japanese airforce]] and [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Navy]] and [[Axis powers|Axis]] naval forces menaced Australian shipping, while the [[Royal Navy]] remained pre-occupied with the battles of the Atlantic and Mediterranean in the face of [[Nazi]] aggression in Europe. A Japanese invasion fleet headed for the Australian [[Territory of New Guinea]] was only halted by the intervention of the [[United States Navy]] in the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww2.asp|title=Second World War, 1939–45 – Australian War Memorial<!— Bot generated title —>|website=awm.gov.au|access-date=22 October 2017|archive-date=6 June 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606141155/http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/ww2.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> Australia received thousands of refugees from territories falling to advancing Japanese forces – notably thousands of Chinese men and women as well as many Chinese  seamen. There were also Dutch who fled the [[Dutch East Indies]] (now Indonesia).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/alliesinadversity/japanese/broome.asp|title=Allies in adversity, Australia and the Dutch in the Pacific War – Australian War Memorial<!— Bot generated title —>|website=awm.gov.au|access-date=22 October 2017|archive-date=15 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215061939/http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/alliesinadversity/japanese/broome.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Australian Aborigines|Aboriginal Australians]], [[Torres Strait Islanders]], [[Papua New Guinea]]ns and [[Timor]]ese served in the frontline of the defence of Australia, bringing Australia's racially discriminatory immigration and political rights policies into focus and wartime service gave many [[Indigenous Australians]] confidence in demanding their rights upon return to civilian life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/aborigines/indigenous.asp|title=Indigenous Australian servicemen – Australian War Memorial<!— Bot generated title —>|website=awm.gov.au|access-date=22 October 2017|archive-date=24 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224190659/http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/aborigines/indigenous.asp|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the war, talk arose about the possibility of abolishing the policy. Hostility to this idea was one reason Australia never signed a treaty with China as it was feared the Chinese government would request the abolition of the White Australian policy as an ally. A spokesman for the Labor Party demanded that it be continued, stating:<ref>editorial in ''Australian Worker'' [Sydney] 15 March 1944, in F. K. Crowley, ''Modern Australia in Documents: 1939–1970'' (1973) 2:97–98.</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=The policy of White Australia is now, perhaps, the most outstanding political characteristic of this country, and it has been accepted not only by those closely associated with it, but also by those who watched and studied "this interesting experiment" from afar. Only those who favor the exploitation of a servile coloured race for greed of gain, and a few professional economists and benighted theologians, are now heard in serious criticism of a White Australia; but{{spaces}}... they are encouraged by the ill-timed and inappropriate pronouncements of what are, after all, irresponsible officials.}}

===Post-war immigration===
{{main|Post-war immigration to Australia}}
[[Image:Dutch Migrant 1954 MariaScholte=50000thToAustraliaPostWW2.jpg|thumb|Dutch migrants arriving in Australia in 1954. Australia embarked upon a massive immigration programme following the [[Second World War]] and gradually dismantled the preferential treatment afforded to British migrants.]]

Following the trauma of the Second World War, Australia's vulnerability during the [[Pacific War]] and its relatively small population compared to other nations led to policies summarised by the slogan, "populate or perish." According to author Lachlan Strahan, this was an ethnocentric slogan that in effect was an admonition to fill Australia with Europeans or else risk having it overrun by Asians.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Strahan|first=Lachlan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6UFAYXYXoIC&q=white%2520yellow%2520%2520%2522populate%2520or%2520perish%2522&pg=PA146|title=Australia's China: Changing Perceptions from the 1930s to the 1990s|date=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-48497-8|language=en|page=146|access-date=28 March 2023|archive-date=20 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420155441/https://books.google.com/books?id=P6UFAYXYXoIC&q=white%20yellow%20%20%22populate%20or%20perish%22&pg=PA146|url-status=live}}</ref> Immigration Minister [[Arthur Calwell]] stated in 1947 to critics of the government's mass immigration programme: "We have 25 years at most to populate this country before the yellow races are down on us."

During the war, many non-white refugees, Chinese, Malays, Indonesians and Filipinos, arrived in Australia, but Calwell controversially sought to have them all deported.<ref>{{cite book|first1=James|last1=Franklin|author1-link=James Franklin (philosopher)|first2=Gerry O|last2=Nolan|title=Arthur Calwell|year=2023|url=https://www.connorcourtpublishing.com.au/Arthur-Calwell-Australian-Biographical-Monographs-20–James-Franklin-Gerry-O-Nolan_p_568.html|publisher=Connor Court|isbn=978-1-922815-81-1|pages=44–48|access-date=20 October 2023|archive-date=22 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231022194642/https://www.connorcourtpublishing.com.au/Arthur-Calwell-Australian-Biographical-Monographs-20–James-Franklin-Gerry-O-Nolan_p_568.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Between 1945 and 1952, an Australian brigade served as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force in Japan. Until 1952, Australia did not permit Japanese women who had married Australian soldiers to enter Australia.{{sfn|Jupp|1995|p=209}}

The [[Chifley government]] introduced the ''[[Aliens Deportation Act 1948]]'', which had its weaknesses exposed by the [[High Court of Australia|High Court]] case ''[[O'Keefe v Calwell]]'', and then passed the ''[[War-time Refugees Removal Act 1949]]'' which gave the immigration minister sweeping powers of deportation.<ref>[http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p109651/pdf/ch015.pdf Gone with hardly a trace: deportees in immigration policy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203224547/http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p109651/pdf/ch015.pdf |date=3 December 2017 }}, pp. 12–13.</ref> In 1948, Iranian [[Baháʼí Faith in Australia|Bahá'ís]] seeking to immigrate to Australia were classified as "Asiatic" by the policy and were denied entry.<ref name="pers">{{Cite book
  | author = Graham Hassall
  | editor = Abe Ata
  | title = Religion and Ethnic Identity, An Australian Study
  | place = Melbourne
  | publisher = Victoria College & Spectrum
  | year = 1989
  | chapter = Persian Baháʼís in Australia
  | url = http://bahai-library.com/file.php5?file=hassall_persian_bahais_australia&language=All
  | access-date = 20 July 2008
  | archive-date = 17 February 2007
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070217152523/http://bahai-library.com/file.php5?file=hassall_persian_bahais_australia&language=All
  | url-status = live
  }}</ref> In 1949, Calwell's successor, [[Harold Holt]], allowed the remaining 800 non-white refugees to apply for residency, and also allowed Japanese "[[war bride]]s" to settle in Australia.<ref name="abolition" /> In the meantime, Holt continued Calwell's policy of encouraging mass immigration from Europe, and Australia admitted large numbers of immigrants from mostly Italy, Poland, Greece and [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]], as well as its traditional source of immigration, the [[British Isles]]. The Australian Government promoted the [[Cultural assimilation|assimilation]] of migrants to Australia from continental Europe, who were expected to become mainstream Australians.<ref>Egon F. Kunz (1988). ''Displaced persons. Calwell's New Australians'', Sydney, Australian National University Press.  {{ISBN|0-08-034406-2}}</ref> In 1947, Australian immigration law, which had until had been based on encouraging British immigration, was amended to take in more European immigration.{{sfn|Jupp|1995|p=210}} The way that Australia took in a large number of European immigrants from countries that were previously considered undesirable weakened the case for Australia as a primarily "British" country and led to demands for the end of the White Australia policy.{{sfn|Jupp|1995|p=210}} Given that the purpose of the White Australia policy was to preserve Australia as a British country, it is notable that some of the strongest critics of the White Australia policy in the 1950s were liberal British professors serving at Australian universities.{{sfn|Jupp|1995|p=210}} In 1959, the Immigration Reform Group was founded at [[University of Melbourne|Melbourne University]] to champion for the abolition of the policy.{{sfn|Jupp|1995|p=210}}

===Relaxation of restrictions===
[[Image:Portrait Menzies 1950s.jpg|thumb|upright|Sir [[Robert Menzies]]. The [[Menzies government (1949–1966)|Menzies government]] abolished the dictation test in 1958.]]

Australian policy began to shift towards significantly increasing immigration. Legislative changes over the next few decades continuously opened up immigration in Australia.<ref name="timeline" />

Labor Party [[Chifley government]]:

* 1947: The Chifley Labor government relaxed the Immigration Restriction Act allowing non-Europeans the right to settle permanently in Australia for business reasons.

Liberal-Country Party [[Menzies government (1949–1966)]]:

*1949: Immigration Minister Holt permitted 800 non-European refugees to stay, and Japanese war brides to be admitted.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/08abolition.htm|title=Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection|website=www.immi.gov.au|access-date=22 October 2017|archive-date=1 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901105340/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/08abolition.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 1950: External Affairs Minister [[Percy Spender]] instigated the [[Colombo Plan]], under which students from Asian countries were admitted to study at Australian universities, though many more came as privately sponsored students.
* 1957: Non-Europeans with 15 years' residence in Australia were allowed to become citizens.
* 1958: [[Migration Act 1958]] abolished the dictation test and introduced a simpler system for entry. Immigration Minister Sir [[Alick Downer]] announced that "distinguished and highly qualified Asians" might immigrate.
* 1959: Australians were permitted to sponsor Asian spouses for citizenship.
* 1964: Conditions of entry for people of non-European origin were relaxed.
This was despite comments Menzies made in a discussion with radio [[2UE]]'s Stewart Lamb in 1955, where he appeared to be a defender of the White Australia Policy. <blockquote>Menzies: "I don't want to see reproduced in Australia the kind of problem they have in South Africa or in America or increasingly in Great Britain. I think it's been a very good policy and it's been of great value to us and most of the criticism of it that I've ever heard doesn't come from these oriental countries it comes from wandering Australians."

Lamb: "For these years of course in the past Sir Robert you have been described as a racist."

Menzies: "Have I?"

Lamb: "I have read this, yes."

Menzies: "Well if I were not described as a racist I'd be the only public man who hasn't been."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mason|first1=Brett|last2=Johansen|first2=Kirsty|date=21 July 2017|title=What Menzies really thought of the Commonwealth|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/what-menzies-really-thought-of-the-commonwealth|website=SBS News|access-date=10 August 2018|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612135921/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/what-menzies-really-thought-of-the-commonwealth|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1963, a paper, "Immigration: Control or Colour Bar?", was published by a group of students and academics at Melbourne University. It proposed eliminating the White Australia policy and was influential towards this end.<ref>{{cite web | title=At-a-glance: The White Australia Policy | date=13 June 2013 | publisher=[[Special Broadcasting Service|SBS]] | url=http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1780750/At-a-glance-The-White-Australia-policy | access-date=21 June 2013 | archive-date=21 June 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621072451/http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1780750/At-a-glance-The-White-Australia-policy | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | title=Academic Howard Nathan says Australia's race relations changed 'immeasurably for the better' | author=Jeff Waters | date=20 June 2013 | publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-20/former-judge-fails-australias-improved-race-relations/4769422 | access-date=21 June 2013 | archive-date=20 June 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620102201/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-20/former-judge-fails-australias-improved-race-relations/4769422 | url-status=live }}</ref>

===End of the White Australia Policy{{anchor |endOfPolicy}}===
<!-- if renaming, note that [[Immigration history of Australia]] links to this heading -->
[[File:HaroldHolt.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Harold Holt]]. The [[Holt government]] began dismantling the White Australia policy]]
In July 1966, Prime Minister [[Harold Holt]] stated that Australia no longer had a White Australia policy, but instead had a "restricted immigration policy".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/107881136|title=Holt, Wilson in weekend meeting|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=11 July 1966}}</ref> Earlier in the year he and immigration minister [[Hubert Opperman]] had announced a significant liberalisation of immigration laws for non-whites. These included reducing the waiting time for non-whites to obtain citizenship from fifteen years to five years and allowed for [[family reunification]]. Non-white immigrants would be admitted on the basis that they were "well-qualified", rather than "highly qualified and distinguished" as had been the case since 1956. According to ''[[The Canberra Times]]'' the changes would allow around 5,000 non-whites to obtain citizenship.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/105891028|title=New migration policy will aid Japanese|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=11 March 1966}}</ref>

In January 1971, Prime Minister [[John Gorton]] stated that his government aimed to establish a multi-racial society in Australia and committed to abolishing racial discrimination. However he stated that there was still a need to restrict non-white immigration.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/110451246|title=Why Mr Gorton varied his stance at Singapore|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=26 January 1971}}</ref> He had earlier stated that the White Australia policy was not morally justifiable, but that "the unlimited influx of colored people would lead to stresses in Australia".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250239978|title=Gorton's 'race stand' comes under attack|newspaper=Papua New Guinea Post-Courier|date=19 October 1970}}</ref>

Labor Party members [[Don Dunstan]] and [[Gough Whitlam]] set about removing the White Australia Policy from the Labor platform. Attempts in 1959 and 1961 failed, with Labor leader [[Arthur Calwell]] stating, "It would ruin the Party if we altered the immigration policy ... it was only cranks, long hairs, academics and do-gooders who wanted the change."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hocking|first=Jenny|title=Gough Whitlam: The Early Years|publisher=The Miegunyah Press|year=2008|location=Australia|page=207}}</ref> However, Dunstan persisted in his efforts, and in 1965, the White Australia Policy was removed from the Labor platform at their national conference; Dunstan personally took credit for the change.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2009-05-10|title=ABC News Obituary – Don Dunstan| website=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/features/obits/dunstan/default.htm|access-date=2021-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510064507/http://www.abc.net.au/news/features/obits/dunstan/default.htm|archive-date=10 May 2009}}</ref>

In 1966, the [[Holt government|Holt Liberal government]] modified the White Australia policy in an effort to reduce the strong perception of Australia's anti-Asian racism. After a review of immigration policy in March 1966, Immigration Minister [[Hubert 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, Holt's government decided to allow foreign non-whites to become permanent residents and citizens after five years (the same as for Europeans), and also removed discriminatory provisions in [[family reunification]] policies.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

After the removal of official discrimination, preference was still given to Asian migrants of European or racially mixed appearance. A report on the Filipino community of Sydney in 1966 observed that its members – numbering approximately 100 – were all "white" looking, or in Filipino terms, "mestizos" of presumably Spanish descent. "The Filipino Consul General stated that he was the only 'colored Filipino' in Sydney."<ref>
{{cite book
 | author= Michael Williams
 | title=  Australia's Dictation Test: The Test it was a Crime to Fail | page= 243
 | publisher= Brill | year= 2021
 | isbn= 978-90-04-47110-8
}}</ref>

Nevertheless, the annual non-European settler arrivals rose from 746 in 1966 to 2,696 in 1971, while annual part-European settler arrivals rose from 1,498 to 6,054.<ref name="abolition" />

Leader of the Labor Party from 1960 to 1967 [[Arthur Calwell]] supported the White Australia policy. This is reflected by Calwell's comments in his 1972 memoirs, ''Be Just and Fear Not'', in which he made it clear that he maintained his view that non-European people should not be allowed to settle in Australia. He wrote:
<blockquote>I am proud of my white skin, just as a Chinese is proud of his yellow skin, a Japanese of his brown skin, and the Indians of their various hues from black to coffee-coloured. Anybody who is not proud of his race is not a man at all. And any man who tries to stigmatise the Australian community as racist because they want to preserve this country for the white race is doing our nation great harm... I reject, in conscience, the idea that Australia should or ever can become a multi-racial society and survive.<ref>Calwell, ''Be Just and Fear Not'', 117</ref></blockquote>

The [[Australian Workers' Union]] (AWU) abandoned its support for the White Australia policy in 1972.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://awu.net.au/our-union/history/ |title=AWU Timeline |date= |first= |last=}}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=May 2025}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sa.awu.net.au/awu-timeline/#1559268693328-7cb21b48-b13a |title=AWU TIMELINE/ |date= |first= |last=}}</ref>{{full citation needed |date=May 2025}}

The Whitlam Labor government brought about the comprehensive legal end of the White Australia policy in 1973 as [[Prime Minister of Australia|prime minister]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-08-21|title=Refugee Policies in an Election Campaign [Australian Fabian Society]|url=http://www.fabian.org.au/887.asp|access-date=2021-09-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821205840/http://www.fabian.org.au/887.asp|archive-date=21 August 2006}}</ref> The [[Whitlam government|Whitlam Labor government]] implemented a series of amendments preventing the enforcement of racial aspects of the immigration law.<ref name="abolition" /> These amendments:
* Legislated that all migrants, regardless of origin, be eligible to obtain citizenship after three years of permanent residence.
* Ratified all international agreements relating to immigration and race.
* Issued policy to totally disregard race as a factor in selecting migrants.

The ''[[Racial Discrimination Act 1975]]'' made the use of racial criteria for any official purpose illegal.

It was not until the [[Fraser government|Fraser Liberal government]]'s review of immigration law in 1978 that all selection of prospective migrants based on country of origin was entirely removed from official policy.

In 1981, the minister for immigration announced a special humanitarian assistance programme (SHP) for Iranians to seek refuge in Australia and by 1988 some 2,500 [[Baháʼí Faith|Bahá'ís]] and many more others had arrived in Australia through either SHP or refugee programmes.<ref name="pers"/> The last selective immigration policy, offering relocation assistance to British nationals, was finally removed in 1982.<ref name="Jupp">{{cite web|url=http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/events/citizen/jupp.pdf |last=Jupp |first=James |title=Immigration and Citizenship |publisher=University of Melbourne |access-date=14 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625205721/http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/events/citizen/jupp.pdf |archive-date=25 June 2006 }}</ref>

===Aftermath===
Australia's contemporary immigration programme has two components: a programme for skilled and family migrants and a humanitarian programme for refugees and asylum seekers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/60refugee.htm|title=Australian Government Department of Immigration and Border Protection|website=www.immi.gov.au|access-date=22 October 2017|archive-date=1 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001125010/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/60refugee.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2010, the post-war immigration programme had received more than 6.5&nbsp;million migrants. The population tripled in the six decades to around 21&nbsp;million in 2010, comprising people originating from 200 countries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/overview.html|title=About Australia|website=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade|access-date=22 October 2017|archive-date=16 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216000834/http://www.dfat.gov.au/aib/overview.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Legacy ===

===Contemporary demographics===
{{Main|Immigration to Australia|Demography of Australia}}

In 2019, Australia has the world's [[List of sovereign states and dependent territories by immigrant population|eighth-largest]] immigrant population, with immigrants accounting for 34% of the population, a higher proportion than in any other nation with a population of over 10&nbsp;million.<ref name="abs.gov.au">{{cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3412.0Main%20Features22017-18?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3412.0&issue=2017-18&num=&view=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531152959/https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3412.0Main%20Features22017-18?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3412.0&issue=2017-18&num=&view=|archive-date=31 May 2019|title=3412.0 – Migration, Australia, 2017–18|date=3 April 2019|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref><ref>United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, (2015). 'International Migration' in International migrant stock 2015. Accessed from [https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimatesmaps.shtml?1t1 International migrant stock 2015: maps] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329222658/https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/data/estimates2/estimatesmaps.shtml?1t1 |date=29 March 2019 }} on 24 May 2017</ref> 162,417 permanent immigrants were admitted to Australia in 2017–18.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2017-18.pdf|title=2017–18 Migration Program Report|publisher=Australian Government: Department of Home Affairs|access-date=16 June 2019|archive-date=12 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212004128/https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2017-18.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Most immigrants are skilled,<ref name="immig">{{cite web |url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/20planning.htm |title=Fact Sheet 20 – Migration Program Planning Levels |access-date=17 June 2010 |date=11 August 2009 |publisher=Department of Immigration and Citizenship |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507054151/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/20planning.htm |archive-date=7 May 2010 }}</ref> but the immigration quota includes categories for family members and [[refugee]]s.<ref name="immig"/> In 2018 the five largest immigrant groups were those born in [[England]] (4%), [[Mainland China]] (2.6%), [[India]] (2.4%), [[New Zealand]] (2.3%) and the [[Philippines]] (1.1%).<ref name="abs.gov.au"/>

In the 2016 Australian census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:{{efn |As a percentage of 21,769,209 persons who nominated their ancestry at the 2016 census. The [[Census in Australia|Australian Census]] collects information on ancestry, but not on race or ethnicity.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by+Subject/2071.0~2016~Main+Features~Cultural+Diversity+Article~60|title=Cultural Diversity In Australia, 2016|website=Commonwealth of Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics|date=28 June 2017|access-date=16 June 2019|archive-date=5 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210405013012/https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by+Subject/2071.0~2016~Main+Features~Cultural+Diversity+Article~60|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument|title=2016 Census Community Profiles|publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics|date=23 October 2017|access-date=16 June 2019|archive-date=20 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420045056/https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/036?opendocument|url-status=dead}}</ref>  <!— Only ancestries with >1% are listed. Do not use the QuickStats data from ABS for ancestries. Use the full ancestry data series (eg from ABS Community Profiles series) as the QuickStats data shows each ancestry as a percentage of all ancestry responses (where each person can list up to two, thus a far greater number than the total population) while the full data series in the ABS Community Profiles show the percentage of people nominating a given ancestry as a percentage of the population who nominated an ancestry —>

* [[English Australian|English]] (36.1%)
* [[Australians|Australian]] (33.5%){{efn |The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry are part of the [[Anglo-Celtic Australian|Anglo-Celtic]] group.{{sfn |Jupp |1995 }}}} 
* [[Irish Australian|Irish]] (11.0%)
* [[Scottish Australian|Scottish]] (9.3%)
* [[Chinese Australian|Chinese]] (5.6%)
* [[Italian Australian|Italian]] (4.6%)
* [[German Australian|German]] (4.5%)
* [[Indian Australian|Indian]] (2.8%)
* [[Indigenous Australian|Indigenous]] (2.8%){{efn |Of any ancestry. Includes those identifying as [[Aboriginal Australians]] or [[Torres Strait Islanders]]. Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.}}
* [[Greek Australian|Greek]] (1.8%)
* [[Dutch Australian|Dutch]] (1.6%) 
* [[Filipino Australian|Filipino]] (1.4%)
* [[Vietnamese Australian|Vietnamese]] (1.4%)
* [[Lebanese Australian|Lebanese]] (1%)

===Political and social legacy===
{{Far-right politics in Australia}}
The story of Australia since the Second World War – and particularly since the final relegation of the White Australia Policy – has been one of ever-increasing ethnic and cultural diversity. Successive governments have sustained a large program of multi-ethnic immigration from all continents.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity was legally permitted until 1975. Australia's new official policy on racial diversity is: "to build on our success as a culturally diverse, accepting and open society, united through a shared future".<ref name="united_diversity">{{cite web
|url= http://www.immi.gov.au/multicultural/_inc/pdf_doc/united_diversity/united_diversity.pdf
|title=Multicultural Australia: United in Diversity (Social Engineering and the Enforcement of Diversity)
|publisher=The Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
|access-date =14 June 2006
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060417085247/http://www.immi.gov.au/multicultural/_inc/pdf_doc/united_diversity/united_diversity.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 17 April 2006}}</ref> The White Australia policy continues to be mentioned in modern contexts, although it is generally only mentioned by politicians when denouncing their opposition. As Leader of the Opposition, [[John Howard]] argued for restricting Asian immigration in 1988 as part of his [[One Australia policy]]; in August 1988, he said: <blockquote>I do believe that if it is – in the eyes of some in the community – that it's too great, it would be in our immediate-term interest and supporting of social cohesion if it [Asian immigration] were slowed down a little, so the capacity of the community to absorb it was greater.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/archive/news/asian-influence-spices-up-contest/news-story/97b8077825a4a8c15a9fa2127a6207e4|title=Asian influence spices up contest|date=27 February 2007|work=[[The Australian]]|access-date=7 December 2016}}</ref></blockquote>Howard later retracted and apologised for the remarks, and was returned to the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1995. The [[Howard government]] (1996–2007) in turn ran a large programme of non-discriminatory immigration and, according to the [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]], Asian countries became an increasingly important source of immigration over the decade from 1996 to 2006, with the proportion of migrants from Southern and Central Asian countries doubling from 7% to 14%. The proportion of immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa also increased. By 2005–06, China and India were the third and fourth largest sources of all migration (after New Zealand and the United Kingdom). In 2005–06, there were 180,000 permanent additions of migrants to Australia (72% more than the number in 1996–97). This figure included around 17,000 through the humanitarian programme, of whom [[Iraqis]] and [[Sudan]]ese accounted for the largest portions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/928AF7A0CB6F969FCA25732C00207852?opendocument#CHARACTERISTICS+OF+MIGRANTS|title=Chapter – Migration: permanent additions to Australia's population|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia: Australian Bureau of Statistics|website=www.abs.gov.au|date=7 August 2007|access-date=22 October 2017|archive-date=10 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510052653/http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs%40.nsf/Latestproducts/928AF7A0CB6F969FCA25732C00207852?opendocument#CHARACTERISTICS+OF+MIGRANTS|url-status=live}}</ref> China became Australia's biggest source of migrants for the first time in 2009, surpassing New Zealand and Britain.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/china-top-source-of-immigration-20091207-kfcp.html | location=Melbourne | work=The Age | first=Peter | last=Martin | title=China top source of immigration | date=8 December 2009 | access-date=30 April 2011 | archive-date=30 April 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430235503/http://www.theage.com.au/national/china-top-source-of-immigration-20091207-kfcp.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

The Australian historian John Fitzgerald wrote that the White Australia policy, with its definition that to be Australian was to be white, had a powerful impact on forging the identity of the Chinese-Australian community as a marginalised community.<ref>Fitzgerald, John ''Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia'', Sydney, NSW: UNSW Press (2007), p.4-5, {{ISBN|0-86840-870-0}}</ref> Fitzgerald noted that even in the early 21st century, many Chinese-Australians who had been born and grew up in Australia automatically referred to white Australians as "the Australians" and to themselves as "the Chinese".<ref>Fitzgerald, John ''Big White Lie: Chinese Australians in White Australia'', Sydney, NSW: UNSW Press (2007), p.5, {{ISBN|0-86840-870-0}}</ref>

Historian [[Geoffrey Blainey]] achieved mainstream recognition for the anti-multiculturalist cause when he wrote that multiculturalism threatened to transform Australia into a "cluster of tribes". In his 1984 book ''[[All for Australia]]'', Blainey criticised multiculturalism for tending to "emphasise the rights of ethnic minorities at the expense of the majority of Australians" and also for tending to be "anti-British", even though "people from the United Kingdom and Ireland form the dominant class of pre-war immigrants and the largest single group of post-war immigrants."{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

According to Blainey, such a policy, with its "emphasis on what is different and on the rights of the new minority rather than the old majority," was unnecessarily creating division and threatened national cohesion. He argued that "the evidence is clear that many multicultural societies have failed and that the human cost of the failure has been high" and warned that "we should think very carefully about the perils of converting Australia into a giant multicultural laboratory for the assumed benefit of the peoples of the world."<ref>Blainey, G. (1984). ''All For Australia'', North Ryde, NSW: Methuen Haynes ({{ISBN|0-454-00828-7}})</ref>

In one of his numerous criticisms of multiculturalism, Blainey wrote:

<blockquote>For the millions of Australians who have no other nation to fall back upon, multiculturalism is almost an insult. It is divisive. It threatens social cohesion. It could, in the long-term, also endanger Australia's military security because it sets up enclaves which in a crisis could appeal to their own homelands for help.</blockquote>

Blainey remained a persistent critic of multiculturalism into the 1990s, denouncing multiculturalism as "morally, intellectually and economically ... a sham". The British historian [[Andrew Roberts (historian)|Andrew Roberts]], in his 2006 book ''A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900'' praised the White Australia policy as being necessary to "protect Australia as an English-speaking nation".<ref name=Roberts2006>{{cite book|last=Roberts|first=Andrew|title=A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9lgHAAACAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|page=45|isbn=978-0-297-85076-2|access-date=17 September 2020|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813041112/https://books.google.com/books?id=Y9lgHAAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Roberts wrote the White Australia policy was the "right" immigration policy to pursue as he accused Asian immigrants of spreading infectious diseases and stated "Australia had the right (and duty) to protect herself" from Asian immigration.<ref name=Roberts2006/> Views such as those expressed by Roberts have been in the minority. In 2009, the Australian historian Erin Ihde described the White Australia policy as "discredited" both within the historians' community and with the general public.<ref name=Ihde>{{cite book|last=Ihde|first=Erin|chapter=Australia Federates, Australia Celebrates|editor1-first=David Andrew|editor1-last=Roberts|editor2-first=Martin|editor2-last=Crotty|title=Turning Points in Australian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wi5me1HBT7kC|location=Sydney, NSW|publisher=UNSW Press|year=2008|page=95|isbn=978-1-921410-56-7|access-date=16 September 2020|archive-date=13 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210813224508/https://books.google.com/books?id=Wi5me1HBT7kC|url-status=live}}</ref> Ihde wrote that the White Australia policy remains a difficult subject within the Australian popular memory of the past as it was the fear of the so-called "[[Yellow Peril]]" in the form of Asian immigration and the possibility of Asian nations such as China and Japan posing a military threat to Australia that played a major role in the formation of the Australian federation in 1901.<ref name=Ihde/> Ihde argued the White Australia policy was not an aberration in Australian history, nor was it marginal, making it problematic to integrate into a positive view of Australian history.<ref name=Ihde/>

Despite the overall success and generally bipartisan support for Australia's multi-ethnic immigration programme, there remain voices of opposition to immigration within the Australian electorate. At its peak, Pauline Hanson's [[One Nation (Australia)|One Nation Party]] received 9% of the national vote at the 1998 Federal Election.<ref name="carr">{{cite web
|url= http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/index1998.shtml
|last=Carr
|first=Adam
|title=Federal Election of 3&nbsp;October 1998
|access-date =14 June 2006
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060213125503/http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/index1998.shtml <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 13 February 2006}}</ref>

Hanson was widely accused of trying to take Australia back to the days of the White Australia policy, particularly through reference to [[Arthur Calwell]], one of the policy's strongest supporters. In her maiden address to the [[Australian Parliament]] following the [[1996 Australian federal election|1996 election]], Hanson said:<blockquote>I and most Australians want our immigration policy radically reviewed and that of multiculturalism abolished. I believe we are in danger of being swamped by Asians. Between 1984 and 1995, 40 per cent of all migrants coming into this country were of Asian origin. They have their own culture and religion, form ghettos and do not assimilate.<ref name="Hanson">{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18204301-601,00.html|title=Maiden Speech|last=Hanson|first=Pauline|date=1 September 1996|access-date=14 June 2006|archive-date=23 August 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823022323/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18204301-601,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote>Hanson's remarks generated wide interest in the media both nationally and internationally, but she herself did not retain her seat in Parliament at the 1998 election or subsequent 2001 and 2004 federal elections. Hanson also failed to win election in the 2003 and 2011 New South Wales state elections.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hanson-fails-to-win-seat-in-nsw-20110412-1dbuy.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=Hanson fails to win seat in NSW | date=12 April 2011 | access-date=20 February 2020 | archive-date=5 July 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170705224050/http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/hanson-fails-to-win-seat-in-nsw-20110412-1dbuy.html | url-status=live }}</ref> In May 2007, Hanson, with her new [[Pauline's United Australia Party]], continued her call for a freeze on immigration, arguing that African migrants carried disease into Australia.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Hanson-launches-campaign-song/2007/10/05/1191091356094.html | location=Melbourne | work=The Age | title=Hanson launches campaign song | date=5 October 2007 | access-date=19 November 2007 | archive-date=14 June 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614045757/http://www.theage.com.au/news/National/Hanson-launches-campaign-song/2007/10/05/1191091356094.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Hanson returned to politics in 2014 and ran in the Queensland election. She won a Queensland senate seat in the 2016 election, and retained it again in 2022.

Topics related to racism and immigration in Australia are still regularly connected by the media to the White Australia policy. Some examples of issues and events where this connection has been made include:
[[Reconciliation in Australia|reconciliation with Indigenous Australians]]; [[Mandatory detention in Australia|mandatory detention and the "Pacific Solution"]]; the [[2005 Cronulla riots]], and the [[Violence against Indians in Australia controversy|2009 attacks on Indians in Australia]]. Former opposition Labor party leader [[Mark Latham]], in his book ''[[The Latham Diaries]]'', described the [[ANZUS]] alliance as a legacy of the White Australia policy.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

In 2007, the [[Howard government]] proposed an Australian Citizenship Test intended "to get that balance between diversity and integration correct in future, particularly as we now draw people from so many different countries and so many different cultures". The draft proposal contained a pamphlet introducing [[Australian history]], [[Culture of Australia|Culture]] and [[Government of Australia|Democracy]]. Migrants were to be required to correctly answer at least 12 out of 20 questions on such topics in a citizenship quiz. Migrants would also be required to demonstrate an adequate level of understanding of the English language.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.smh.com.au/news/national/citizenship-test-unveiled/2007/08/26/1188066926388.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=Citizenship test unveiled | date=26 August 2007 | access-date=20 February 2020 | archive-date=15 August 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815081911/http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/citizenship-test-unveiled/2007/08/26/1188066926388.html | url-status=live }}</ref> The [[First Rudd government|Rudd government]] reviewed and then implemented the proposal in 2009.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/citizen-quiz-tests-facts-not-figures/story-e6frg6nf-1225776323109 | first=Nicola | last=Berkovic | title=Citizen quiz tests facts, not figures | date=18 September 2009 | work=The Australian}}</ref>

On 14 August 2018, Senator [[Fraser Anning]] delivered his maiden speech to the Senate. In it, he called for a [[plebiscite]] to reintroduce the White Australia Policy, especially with regard to excluding Muslims ( even though Muslims come from different races ). He was criticised by politicians from the left and the right, in particular for his choice of words ("[[Final Solution|final solution]]").<ref>{{cite news |last1=Graham |first1=Ben |last2=Farr |first2=Malcolm |title='While all Muslims are not terrorists, certainly all terrorists these days are Muslims,' Senator Anning said |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/while-all-muslims-are-not-terrorists-certainly-all-terrorists-these-days-are-muslims-senator-anning-said/news-story/c0753644cfccdda0394619e6f9dc01b5 |newspaper=News.com.au |date=14 August 2018 |publisher=News International |access-date=3 April 2019 |archive-date=14 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180814202448/https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/while-all-muslims-are-not-terrorists-certainly-all-terrorists-these-days-are-muslims-senator-anning-said/news-story/c0753644cfccdda0394619e6f9dc01b5 |url-status=live }}</ref> He was again criticised by politicians across the board after blaming Muslim immigration to [[New Zealand]] for the [[2019 Christchurch mosque attacks]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/outrage-as-fraser-anning-blames-nz-attacks-on-muslim-immigration|title=Outrage as Fraser Anning blames NZ attacks on 'Muslim immigration'|last=Baker|first=Nick|date=15 March 2019|website=SBS News|language=en|access-date=3 January 2020|archive-date=31 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331092801/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/outrage-as-fraser-anning-blames-nz-attacks-on-muslim-immigration|url-status=live}}</ref>

Surveys from 2018 and 2023 have found that over 15% polled have shown support for discrimination when it comes to immigration intake. Support for discrimination was higher on basis of religion then race or ethnicity.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lens.monash.edu/2018/12/05/1366647/calls-for-a-return-to-white-australia-policy-not-backed | title=Return to White Australia? Surveys say no | date=5 December 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web| title=Mapping social cohesion 2023 | url=https://scanloninstitute.org.au/sites/default/files/2023-11/2023%20Mapping%20Social%20Cohesion%20Report.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231115203316/https://scanloninstitute.org.au/sites/default/files/2023-11/2023%20Mapping%20Social%20Cohesion%20Report.pdf | archive-date=2023-11-15}}</ref>