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The transformation of Labor Party immigration policy, 1901–1945

journal contribution
posted on 2016-01-01, 00:00 authored by Carolyn HolbrookCarolyn Holbrook
The Commonwealth Labor government’s introduction of a program of mass immigration after the Second World War was a pivotal moment in the nation’s history. The program itself and the experiences of those who settled in Australia have been studied closely by historians and social scientists. Less attention has been given to the fact that the postwar policy represented a transformation of Labor’s traditional attitude to immigration. Since its foundation in the 1890s, the Australian Labor Party had been suspicious of immigration and opposed to programs of assisted immigration on the basis that migrant labour threatened the wages and conditions of Australian workers. This article traces Labor’s attitudes to migration before the Second World War and shows how economic and security exigencies compelled the party to repudiate its decades-long opposition to assisted immigration. The article suggests that the reason that the postwar immigration program does not receive greater prominence in histories of the Labor Party is because the policy and its chief architect, Arthur Calwell, are diminished by their association with the White Australia policy.

History

Journal

Journal of Australian studies

Volume

40

Issue

4

Pagination

403 - 417

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Location

Melbourne, Vic.

ISSN

1444-3058

eISSN

1835-6419

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2016, International Australian Studies Association

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