Summary

Booklet, 16 pages with orange cover, entitled 'White Australia: Today's Dilemma'. A Current Affairs Bulletin ('CBA') published by the Department of Tutorial Classes at the University of Sydney, vol.20, no.12 October 7, 1957.

The booklet is divided into headings: 'A Fundamental Assumption', The Calls for Revision', 'Views of Religious Leaders', ' A Policy of Fear', 'Roman Catholic Opinion', 'How Real a Change?', 'The Thin Edge of the Wedge', 'Dissent...', '...and Reaffirmation', 'The Policy and the Situation Today', 'The "Calculated Risks"' and 'Further Reading'. Edited by J.L.J. Wilson.

One of series of Current Affairs Bulletin published fortnightly by the Deptment of Tutorial Classes at University of Sydney on variety of social and political topics. This issue sets up the debate by recognising the tension between a nation's right to determine who can immigrate and the definite racist overtones of the existing White Australia policy; between people deploring racial prejudice in other countries while implicitly accepting White Australia as a fundamental assumption of Australian society. It also rests responsibility less on the Immigration Restriction Act and more on community and government sentiment which has accepted the concept of 'White Australia'. It looks at calls for revision, what they are and mean and how they might be realized. It presents the position of various religious and political associations, and concludes with an observation about the risk of regional isolation if the policy be maintained.

Physical Description

16 pages (including cover). Cover has orange ground over white stock, with black printing. Staple bound. Pages are numbered from 182 (inside cover) onwards. Advertisement for pearl authentification (including drawing of woman's head and neck, bearing pearls) on inside front cover.

Significance

This small but diverse set of items present differing community viewpoints on issues relating to Australian immigration. The 2 Current Affairs Bulletins (which compliment the 1960 'Control or Colour Bar' publication produced by the Immigration Reform Group and in the MV collection) pick up the White Australia debate that was gaining momentum from the late fifties into the 1960s while the Migrant Worker conference proceedings reflect the growing problems relating to the migrant workforce being exposed in the 1970s. The National Action newsletter reflects (at its most extreme) the anti Asian immigration debate that was occurring during the mid to late 1980s, including the Blainey debate and statements about 'absorption'; being made by the then Liberal Party leader John Howard. It is complimented by a very small collection of material form the period from 'Australians Against Further Immigration' and the later material produced by the One Nation Party also in the collection.

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