RACISM AGAINST THE CHINESE ON THE AUSTRALIAN GOLDFIELDSYear 9 Humanities

AFFECT OF THE GOLD RUSHES ON POPULATION SIZE In 1851, gold was discovered in Australia near Bathurst in New South

Wales. In the same year, gold rushes soon started in Victorian towns such as Bendigo and Ballarat. The gold rushes quadrupled Australia's population in ten years:

1851 438,000

1861 1,168 000

CHINESE PROPORTION OF THE POPULATION Of that 1861 population, the Chinese numbered about 40,000 - 3 percent of the

population. However, they were concentrated in the Victorian gold-rush areas that also attracted the mass of the early white diggers - Ballarat, Bendigo, and Beechworth.

Influx of Chinese Miners

The rate of Chinese migration alarmed Victorian government officials. According to the 1853 census there were 2000 Chinese in the colony. At the beginning of 1855 there were 10,000 on the goldfields. During March 1854, four ships arrived bringing 1,400 Chinese. By June the numbers had increased to 17,000.

The 1850s was a period of rapid population changes, especially for Victoria. In the Census of 1851 there were 197,186 people in New South Wales and 97,489 in Victoria. By 1861, these figures were 541,800 and 350,086 respectively. Melbourne's population increased from 23,143 to 139,196 in this period.

1855 RESTRICTION ACT The colonists began to feel that, in the words of the Victorian Governor,

they 'could without much difficulty calculate the period at which the Chinese would outnumber the subjects of the Queen of Great Britain'. The Restriction Act was passed to limit Chinese passengers to one for every ten tons of registered tonnage. A fee of £10 (twice the weekly wage of a skilled worker at the time) was imposed on each Chinese miner.

CHINESE WERE ATTRACTED BY THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN 1850S.

To restrict the number of Chinese miners, the Australian colonies levied a poll tax on the Chinese coming into the country:

1855 Victoria enacted a £10 poll tax(twice the weekly wage of a skilled worker at the time). One in five adult males was Chinese.

1857 South Australia enacted a poll tax to prevent the Chinese from arriving at the Victorian goldfields after disembarking in South Australia.

1861 In New South Wales, by 1861 there were 21,000 Chinese in the colony - one in sixteen of the population.

LAMBING FLAT RIOT

VIOLENCE AGAINST CHINESE MINERS The worst violence against Chinese miners was in central New South

Wales. European diggers were incensed by the Chinese and their apparent wastage of water when extracting gold. A weak police presence was unable to contain the situation. Six anti-Chinese riots occurred at the Lambing Flat camps over a period of 10 months. The most serious riot occurred on 14 July 1861 when approximately 2000 European diggers attacked the Chinese miners. Although they tried to get away from the violent mob, about 250 Chinese miners were gravely injured and most lost all their belongings. After this tragic event, Lambing Flat was renamed Young.

The pressure of public opinion against the Chinese caused the New South Wales Government to pass the Chinese Immigration Restriction and Regulation Act in 1861 to restrict the numbers of Chinese in the colony. Queensland introduced restrictions in 1877 and Western Australia followed suit in 1886.

RESTRICTIVE MEASURES AGAINST THE CHINESE IN THE 1880S December 1880 to January 1881 Intercolonial Conference

1. Britain should follow America's example and re-negotiate its treaty with China.

2. Chinese immigration to Australia should be controlled.

3. This control should be uniform, based on a £10 poll tax plus tonnage restriction.

4. Chinese who were British subjects were to be exempt.

1888 Intercolonial Conference on Restricting Chinese Immigration.

1. Traditional Chinese immigration should be virtually prohibited. The poll tax was dropped, but the passenger limit was raised to allow only one Chinese for every 500 tons of cargo.

2. Britain should negotiate a new treaty, along the lines of that being negotiated by the United States, whereby all Chinese should be denied entry except certain exempt groups such as crew, officials, merchants, students and tourists.

3. Chinese who were British subjects were to be excluded from entering Australia.

4. Restrictions were placed on the movement of Chinese from Colony to Colony in Australia.

5. No Chinese were to be naturalised as British citizens in Australia.

EXPLANATIONS OF RACISM AGAINST CHINESE Competition on the goldfields.

Competition in the labour market.

Anglo-Saxon belief in racial superiority and purity. These ideas were influenced by Social Darwinism. The idea of building a 'racially pure' nation was quite common at the time.