Summary

Booklet with orange cover, entitled 'White Australia: Reform?'. This issue published 6 July 1964.

One of series of Current Affairs Bulletin published fortnightly by the Deptment of Tutorial Classes at the University of Sydney on variety of social and political topics. This issue follows two published in 1957 ('White Australia - Origins' and 'White Australia - Today's Dilemma') which looked at the history, community attitudes and resulting government dilemmas in foreign policy. This issue looks at recent developments in moves towards reform. It presents the post 1958 Migration Act procedures of prohibition, exception, and temporary and permanent entry. It discusses different moral questions relating to White Australia, quotes from the Immigration Reform Groups 1960 publication 'Control or Colour Bar?' and considers the extent of influence of pro-reform groups.

Physical Description

16 page (including cover), with orange cover featuring series of angular concentric circles in black and white, with title in white bar overlaying circles.

Significance

This acquisition is drawn from material selected from the Ecumenical Migration Centre library collection at the Immigration Museum Discovery Centre by Maria Tence and Moya McFadzean. The items selected are considered to be more appropriate as heritage collection than library material.

Immigration Debate-Related Material: This small but diverse set of items present differing community viewpoints on issues relating to Australian immigration. The two 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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