The New Australians - Migration to WA

When the European settlement of Australia began, it was mostly by people from the British Isles, although there were always those from other nations who came to make one of the colonies their home too. However, in the late 1800s, with Federation being planned, the question arose as to who, according to race, would be allowed to settle in the new nation. The attitudes and anxieties of a very conservative polity came to shape Australia’s migration program for over 70 years. Actively excluding migrants because of race was the core of the so-called ‘White Australia Policy’. Its authors argued that non-Anglo-Saxon peoples were inferior and would not share ‘Australian values’. However, over the years, in the wake of Australia’s strengthening links with Asia, and international travel becoming the norm, the Immigration (Restriction) Act 1901 was progressively amended until it was finally abolished in 1973.

Dictation test passages used in 1925. The dictation test was one of the primary ways the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 was implemented. Anyone failing to write the passage down could be deported.
Credit: National Archives of Australia

The first passage, marked for use from the 1st to the 15th September 1925, reads as follows:
The need for mental stillness, for quiet and balance, is obvious. People are too excited. Let us think how null and void our little revolutionary efforts are when tested by reality. Yet the fruitful results in our private lives and public efforts spring almost always from quiet reflection and mature contemplation.