An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion: Australia from 1788 (Anthem Studies in Australian Politics, Economics and Society)

An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion presents Australian traditions, myths and legends in an understanding but often critical light in the belief that such devices have often been used by interested parties and even governments to maintain social solidarity and to mould a very complex people into a coherent and obedient whole. Australia is not and never has been an equal society. It has not always been a peaceful and tolerant society but it is more so than most other states and especially many of those sending immigrants. It is not a perfect democracy. Many have been mistreated and even persecuted but that most of those suffering at present are either indigenous or refugees should not be a cause of indifference. Australians may be suspicious of foreigners and social and political deviants. But they have passed a whole series of reforming laws since the Federation in 1901, not all of which have been as racist as the White Australia policy. An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion attempts to get a little bit closer to the truth of two hundred years of creating a liveable society in what was a remote and unknown part of the world. About the Author James Jupp is a visiting scholar in the School of Demography, Australian National University. Educated in the UK, Jupp moved to Australia after graduation. His doctoral dissertation has been published as Sri Lanka: Third World Democracy (1978). Jupp is the author of several books and articles, the editor of three encyclopaedias and the co-editor of six books. Tags: Television, Entertainment, Performing Arts, Social & Cultural Studies, Nonfiction, Social Science, Emigration & Immigration, Political Science, Cultural Studies An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion presents Australian traditions, myths and legends in an understanding but often critical light in the belief that such devices have often been used by interested parties and even governments to maintain social solidarity and to mould a very complex people into a coherent and obedient whole. Australia is not and never has been an equal society. It has not always been a peaceful and tolerant society but it is more so than most other states and especially many of those sending immigrants. It is not a perfect democracy. Many have been mistreated and even persecuted but that most of those suffering at present are either indigenous or refugees should not be a cause of indifference. Australians may be suspicious of foreigners and social and political deviants. But they have passed a whole series of reforming laws since the Federation in 1901, not all of which have been as racist as the White Australia policy. An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion attempts to get a little bit closer to the truth of two hundred years of creating a liveable society in what was a remote and unknown part of the world. | 'An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion' is based on current events and developments in Australia and seeks to illuminate them using historical and contemporary issues. It is not a formal or chronological 'history book'. Its sources are soundly based on the scholarship of existing history books. The transformation of Australia into a complex multicultural society comparable to the United States or Canada has not been fully dealt with by most conventional historians or taught extensively in schools and universities. Many conservative scholars either ignore this or even deplore the changes which have become so noticeable since the 1950s. The most important of these changes has been the decline and virtual disappearance of the British Empire from the Asian regions and the growth of dozens of political powers and systems previously only subject to European control. These changes have created an international environment for Australia which is increasingly focussed on Asia and on powers as large and strong as China and India or as threatening as North Korea or some of the Islamic world. These may have been exaggerated, as was Communism in the past, but recently public policy is being reshaped to cope with them. This has normally exchanged British for United States protection, which may not be acceptable to some of Australia's neighbours. In particular the newly discovered 'Anglosphere' may look just like the old British connection on a broader scale. The Australian population reflects these changes in its quite recent nature by accepting and even welcoming immigration from the same Asian regions despite some official attempts to control and limit it after the end of the White Australia policy in the 1970s. Refugee pressures have even extended the intake to cover some parts of Africa. While some official policies have welcomed these changes, others have sought to limit them or to seek cohesion in what might seem like a dissolving society. There have been a series of public debates surrounding ethnicity, values, dangers and tensions, even though these are much less obvious than elsewhere. The book tracks backwards through history to show that dislike and even fear of non-British, non-white and undemocratic elements have existed since the earliest days of British settlement. These were first motivated by contact with the indigenous population, which was drastically reduced in size and driven from their lands within the first generation. This created lasting problems with which Australians have grappled with limited success right into the... Australia is a unique society, created from immigration planned by the state and, for almost a century, organised and recruited through the governments of the British Empire. In the formative days it depended on convict labour from England and Ireland, whereas the United States depended on slave labour from Africa. In subsequent years most Australians were British subjects whereas this ceased to be so for Americans upon their independence. However in recent years this British character has progressively been abandoned with the admission of a wide from other societies. This has created a multicultural society, although one in which the English language remains dominant and British "values' remain praised at least by the conservative side of politics Australia is remote from Britain despite many transport links and investments. Its neighbours are Asians or Pacific Islanders, with only New Zealand as a much smaller British neighbour many miles away.This leads to contradictory situations such as the increasing Asian intake of immigrants and of Asian and especially Chinese business and investment. Although Immigration still remains government controlled as throughout the past but it no longer favours British settlers as it once did. Apart from local neighbours arriving for temporary or permanent residence it also faces the fact that British naval and military force is no longer relevant in the region. The closest protective Ally has become the United States, but the growing powers include China, India and the small but threatening Communist republic of North Korea, armed with nuclear rockets aimed on Australian potential targets for the first time since the end of the war with Japan in 1945. From a relatively safe and stable society, Australia faces new dilemmas. However, even in the past' emphasis on building a compatible society was not achieved without many tensions and problems Cover Front Matter Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Table of contents Preface List of abbreviations Introduction Chapter 1-24 Part I Chapter 1 Prisons in the Pacific, 1788–1850 Chapter 2 The British Inheritance Chapter 3 White Australia and the Golden Age Chapter 4 Peace, Order and Good Government Chapter 5 Indigenous Australia and the South Pacific Chapter 6 Rural Settlers, the Irish and the Chinese Chapter 7 Radicals and Rebels Chapter 8 Communists and Their Allies Chapter 9 The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Chapter 10 Refugees Before the un Convention and Enemy Aliens Chapter 11 Crime, Corruption and Terrorism Chapter 12 The Multicultural Era Chapter 13 Islam as the New Threat Part II Chapter 14 The Post-War Promise Ends Chapter 15 Refugees and War Chapter 16 The United Nations and Refugees Chapter 17 Mandatory Detention Chapter 18 ‘Stop the Boats’ Chapter 19 Finding a Decent Dumping Ground Chapter 20 History as Tragedy And Farce Chapter 21 Facing the ‘Real World’ Chapter 22 Cohesion and Humanity Chapter 23 From Nation-Building to Border Protection Chapter 24 An Unstable World End Matter Chronology References Index

An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion presents Australian traditions, myths and legends in an understanding but often critical light in the belief that such devices have often been used by interested parties and even governments to maintain social solidarity and to mould a very complex people into a coherent and obedient whole.

Australia is not and never has been an equal society. It has not always been a peaceful and tolerant society but it is more so than most other states and especially many of those sending immigrants. It is not a perfect democracy. Many have been mistreated and even persecuted but that most of those suffering at present are either indigenous or refugees should not be a cause of indifference. Australians may be suspicious of foreigners and social and political deviants. But they have passed a whole series of reforming laws since the Federation in 1901, not all of which have been as racist as the White Australia policy. An Immigrant Nation Seeks Cohesion attempts to get a little bit closer to the truth of two hundred years of creating a liveable society in what was a remote and unknown part of the world.