"Mind that Tan": Student Action and the Fight to Dismantle the White Australia Policy, 1961

"Student Action!: The Inside Story," Farrago, December 6, 1961.

Kristianna Scheffel

“A nasty incident developed after the meeting when student demonstrator Mr. W. J. Thomas was allegedly struck by famous Australian sportsman Mr. Opperman, the sitting Liberal Member for Corio.”[1] This nondescript sentence appears halfway into an article recounting the 1961 protests of Student Action against the politicians who continued to enforce the White Australia Policy.[2] A policy which restricted the migration and naturalization of Asian immigrants.[3] The movement, although largely unsuccessful in provoking policy change, was the beginning of a larger nationwide movement to dismantle the discriminatory policy.[4] A movement which would see Hubert Opperman move away from striking down protesters to striking down the White Australia Policy. This is the true story of how students from the University of Melbourne fought back against 60 years of anti-Asian policies.

The White Australia Policy is a series of policies beginning with the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901.[5] The policies became harsher with bans on the entry of family members, the institution of dictation tests, and the elimination of passport entries amongst other restrictions.[6] These policies were propped up by a nationalism cloaked in orientalist narratives placed on Asian immigrants by the West in a continuation of the colonial tradition.[7] They were largely centered around a fear of the perceived cheap labor and poor living standards of Chinese immigrants.[8] Following World War II, Australia faced an influx of refugees from the Pacific Front.[9] Many of these refugees were deported in 1947 after being granted a two-year extension to remain in Australia.[10] However, the emergence of a ‘Red’ China saw a halt to deportations with roughly 900 refugees permitted to stay.[11] The fear of Communism’s influence in the Australasia region shaped policies during the 1950s with an emphasis on encouraging students from Asia as a means of influencing perceptions of Australia amongst its neighbors.[12] The 1958 Immigration Act repealed much of the harsher restrictions on Asian immigrants, but the larger framework of the White Australia Policy remained in place until the mid-1960s to early 70s.[13]

The first steps towards dismantling the White Australia Policy began with a study group at the University of Melbourne.[14] Their interest in the immigration policies’ effects on Australia led them to form the Immigration Reform Group in 1959 with the goal of finding an alternative to the “discriminatory nature” of the policy.[15] Their research and alternative policies were published by the University of Melbourne in a pamphlet entitled “Control or Colour Bar?”.[16] It was the first of its kind in that it provided a cohesive set of arguments for ending the policy and made them widely available.[17] The following year, the Immigration Reform Group would return to the University to help establish a student-run committee against the policy.[18] The student publication Farrago writing in December of 1961 captured the intense interest of the students of the newly formed Student Action Committee in writing, “Throughout swot vac and during the exams, discussion were held and plans formulated in a packed, smoke-filled meeting room in Union House […]”.[19] The Committee consisted of students from across Melbourne’s universities and political spectrum.[20] The universality of the movement signaled the emerging power of Australia’s youth and the difference of opinion captured in their signs of protest stating, “White Aust. Policy Good Enough for Our Grandfather, Not Good Enough for Us.”[21]

Farrago, Student Action Campaign against the White Australia Policy during the 1961 Election, 1961, University of Melbourne Archives.

The protest from which that signage derived was organized only days after the “smoke-filled” meetings in response to Prime Minister Robert Menzies scheduled campaign speech.[22] Farrago reported about a hundred students arrived to protest against both Menzies and his Labor opposition, Arthur Calwell, who refused to make the White Australia Policy a political issue.[23] Their unified stance on the policy was reinforced by Menzies who described the students as “yahoos” and Calwell who claimed that “The vast majority of these people have never heard of the policy and most of them have never heard of Australia either.”[24] Politicians rejected the notion that the policy was based on racial discrimination, arguing instead that it was based solely in economics.[25] However, despite Calwell’s opinion, the students were well aware of the racial animus underpinning the policy with signs pointing to that truth.[26] While some signs are direct in stating “White Australia Policy Stinks,” others, such as “Mind that Tan, They Might Deport You,” speak to the political consciousness of the students who were protesting the deportation of a Scottish man on the basis of his suntan.[27] The “yahoos” would garner nationwide attention for the protests and the running of a candidate for the Victorian Senate, further disproving federal leadership.[28]

In spite of this nationwide attention, the impact of the students would be limited.[29] The Immigration Reform Group would have branches across the country, and their pamphlet would receive widespread circulation.[30] Attitudes towards Asian immigration would become more favorable with a Gallop poll finding 61 percent in favor of the White Australia policy in 1954 and only 22 percent by 1964.[31] In spite of the stonewalling by the Menzies government, discrete changes were being made. Menzies had appointed Peter Heydon as Secretary of the Department of Immigration in that same year in order to shift racial attitudes within the government.[32] While the protestors may not have had any influence on the appointment, their influence did seem to impact upon Mr. Opperman who would begin to dismantle the White Australia Policy in 1966 as the new Minister for Immigration under Prime Minister Harold Holt.[33]

"Secret Racialist Circular Exposed," Farrago, December 6, 1961.

The students of the University of Melbourne were at the beginning of larger changes within Australian society. Student Action may not have had a large impact on its own, but it helped to shape a larger discussion. A discussion which would see the ending of the White Australia Policy and the emergence of a truly multicultural Australia. Through the archives, newspapers and photographs such as these point to the stories of the places in which they reside. The University of Melbourne Archives speaks to a rich history of student protest beyond that of Student Action.