Image via Victorian Multicultural Commission. Photo credit: Jorge de Araujo Photography jdaphoto.com
The Immigration Restriction Act – an integral component of the White Australia policy – was passed into law in 1901, not long after Federation. Though the Act has long since been repealed, its toxics after-effects still linger, as evidenced by the divisive rhetoric and hate speech which can be heard regularly in some sections of the media, in the Federal Parliament, and on the streets – as evidenced by a recent poll which purported to show that half of all Australians want to ban Muslim immigration.
