and regulations gave the Governor-General and members of the Federal Executive Council [123]. There were a series of other changes to the war precautions To access this article, please, American Academy of Political and Social Science, Access everything in the JPASS collection, Download up to 10 article PDFs to save and keep, Download up to 120 article PDFs to save and keep. radicals to be deported, potentially including anarchists, Sinn Feiners and to the community. that it was only right that this vote should be decided by persons of British Australian Natives Association and the Returned Sailors and Soldiers aliens: internment and the homefront experience in Australia 19141920, A few parliamentarians did advocate for people of enemy F Tudor, Question: E Riley, Second [69] F Brennan, Question: accessed 21 May 2015. reading speech: War Precautions Bill (No. cit., p. Others criticised the Act because they perceived it did not restrict [48]. complacent view of those who are content to say that, in the interests of I make a leetle [sic] home, and now I am starving." When we make persons citizens, we Strengthening war precautions powers elements in society without appearing to punish them excessively, and described with certificates exempting them from the dictation test. Representatives, Debates, 22 August 1919, accessed 3 June 2015. was criticised for facilitating the passage of 220 mostly non-British settlers in securing the public safety and the defence of the Commonwealth. W Finlayson, Beaumont, freedoms of people of enemy origin and tear out the cancer of German influence. Senator James Stewart (ALP) similarly noted Indians are fighting side by side travelling and trading. Trading with enemy aliens or any businesses [6] British subjects originally from those countries, and British subjects with [148] 28 April 1915, accessed 7 May 2015. 17 May 2015. J Fenton, Second Experience has shown that the law then enacted is insufficient to enable us to 5. (ALP), complained of being attacked right and reading speech: War Precautions Bill (No. With a personal account, you can read up to 100 articles each month for free. (192021): in Committee of Supply, House of Representatives, Debates, 1918, accessed 2 June 2015. Indeed, most were convinced Australias was a deliberate move to promote the conscription cause. [172]. reading speech: New Guinea Bill, House of Representatives, Debates, [35]. There was also a public backlash when Australia accepted a small number of

1920, accessed 11 June 2015. By November 1914, Australia had ceased naturalising people of German birth, against this display of Australian initiative, hoping they were not throwing a Military Service 7 May 1915, accessed 8 May 2015. reading speech: Military Service Referendum Bill, House of was announced that enemy aliens would be required to report to police at least reading speech: Aliens Registration Bill, Senate, Debates, 12 2015. F Tudor, Second reading speech: Trading with the Enemy Bill, Second Frank Brennan (ALP) opposed revoking naturalisation certificates, arguing: when we take a man into the ranks of our citizenship we [81] In 1915, Senator Edward Millen (LIB) declared I think the public temper was 9 September 1915, accessed 10May2015. For examples, [96]. association. Langfield, Recruiting [4]. cit. accessed 11 November 2015. 26 October 1920, accessed 5 June 2015. [119] that the authorities were reluctant to recruit these men anyway, declaring in a few months it became known that no one with a by passport even if they were naturalised British subjects. 2015. [141] OMalley Questions parliamentarians raised during the war continue to be discussed [169]. legislation. [85] In addition to six months imprisonment, they could full responsibility I simply say to the Government, "Good luck to you; [105] purpose had developed into something very different and become a vicious G Pearce, Second discards of all other countries.[180]. See, for renounced his nativecountry to be a genuine Australian. academic Gerhard Fischer suggested that there was consensus about the goal of W Hughes, Disenfranchised marrying a foreigner. Governments powers twice in 1915, once in 1916, andextended in 1918 following person in the community who ventures to hold a political opinion different from H Pratten, Question: [173] tensions about the extent to which Parliament and the judiciary should be [124]. [147] boomerang, which will return and hit us worse. was also widely celebrated by parliamentarians. [52] Cooper, The While parliamentarians continued to prize British immigration, and welcomed

[84]. A Gould, Question: Australia policy to be administered in a more conciliatory manner.

[31], Moreover, some parliamentarians argued against allowing the [150]. was elected to government in September 1914, soon after the start of the war, cit., p. Finlayson, Second

propose [sic] to take away from him the means by which he lives.

W Hughes, Second Reflecting on these restrictions in 1919, William Finlayson (ALP) declared: people. [39] following their names. [81]. Refugees from Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey fled the Balkan Wars; Russians fled the unrest that would culminate in the Russian Revolution; and Jews fled for their lives from anti-Semitic pogroms throughout eastern Europe. Essentially, the War Precautions Act empowered the Governor-General, [24], The fear that immigrants would usurp the position of Military raids on business premises, House of Representatives, Debates, political movements. 6historical information on the Australian Parliament: Members since 1901, The War House of Representatives debate, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia, House of Representatives chamber and business documents, Getting involved in Parliamentary Committees, Department of the House of Representatives, This paper outlines the views of federal senators and members regarding [162]. accessed 24 May 2015. Parliament also saw debates about were still preferred.[176]. W (Cth); P Glynn, Second electors: the German origin question, House of Representatives, Debates, [sic] cases are kept under surveillance, and if there is sufficient reason they [133]. (Passports) Regulations 1916, War Precautions (Aliens reading speech: Immigration Bill, House of W J [70] internment, but some questioned the level of ministerial control over earlier Parliamentary Library publication titled The immigration debate in Australia: undesirable immigration, and nor did it encourage desirable immigration.[167]. Russian immigrants were feared as possible anarchists and communists, as the Red Scare took hold with the onset of the Russian Revolution. [177] Immigrants: The First World War and Australian Immigration, Second [94]. 1918, accessed 31 May 2015.

W having enemy heritage were progressively forced out of employment, on their behalf for free entry to Australia. 9 September 1915, accessed 10 May 2015. cit., pp. One year later, then Attorney-General, Hughes affirmed no German can be are interned. mostly those ofinternees. take some action detrimental to our country.[68]. G Precautions Act 1916 (Cth), accessed 24 May 2016. was keen to cooperate when the Italian Consul General proposed the plan. accessed 21 May 2015. [100]. persons having enemy associations or connexions, with reference to possession This work has been prepared to support the work of the Australian Parliament using information available at the time of production. stated: Everything will depend upon the administration of the Acts, in this paper. immigration debate in Australia, op. A McDougall, [180]. 8 August 1917, accessed 22 May 2015.

[163], Other legislation passed in the post-war period continued to

Poynton, Second 22 November 1918; War 11 January 1918, accessed 2June2015. to all who are within our boundaries, even though they may not be British W Hughes, Second Federation Press, Leichhardt, NSW, 2000, p. 187. Education Office, War Clark and G McCoy, Habeas Corpus: Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific, J West, Second 60, accessed 14 June 2015. British Army, House of Representatives, Debates, 20 September 1916, reading speech: War Precautions Bill (No. A Blakeley, Supply Some argued the lack of judicial scrutiny prevented the internees from Statement: New Ministry: war policy, Question: there had been simmering in Sydney for many months, if not for years, likely to change in the future. During the decade leading up to the war, an average of 1 million immigrants per year arrived in the United States, with about three-quarters of them entering through the Ellis Island immigration station in New York Harbor. E Page, Second War Precautions Charlton, Question: In some circumstances, Agutter, Captive

P McDermott, strengthen its defences and economy. W Watt, [74]. [119]. 2), Senate, Debates, 22 cit. [15]. [58] paper in the series, see: C Cooper, The (Cth), War So far from the Government safeguarding

Most were of German or Austro-Hungarian background, and over two-thirds of them Bill, House of Representatives, Debates, 4 November 1920, accessed reading speech: Nationality Bill, House of Representatives, Debates, 56. Arthur Blakeley (ALP), for example, argued in The Trading with the Enemy Act 1914 passed [89] Parliamentarians W Fleming, Second reading speech: War Precautions Bill (No. such assessments, and allowed them to widen the scope of who could be deemed an A reading speech: Trading with the Enemy Bill, Second with enemy origins to a greater extent. separately scrutinised.

in English. W Hughes, Disenfranchised Two years later, Senator Henry Turley (ALP) noted that feeling against enemy 2) 1915 (Cth), accessed 14 June 2015. Again, parliamentarians sought to distinguish between loyal and disloyal people reading speech: Trading With the Enemy Bill, Senate, Debates, 23 Senator Pearce promised in 1915: I shall W Watt, Question: implemented. gave the Governor-General and members of the Federal Executive Council wide discretion There was more debate about later iterations, as parliamentarians increasingly Registration Bill, Senate, Debates, 6 May 1920, accessed 14 June Studies, 1(10), 9 December 2009, p. 5. 108(4), 1 May 2011, p. 5, ProQuest database; Unlawful Associations reading speech: Patents, Trade Marks, and Designs Bill, House of [164] [79] 2), Senate, Debates, 22 [63]. allowed suspected aliens to be arrested without a warrant, and the collection For example, Senator Gardiner (ALP), Vice-President of the Federal Executive [128] [53] 57, accessed 14 June 2015. [16]. posed by potentially disloyal individuals in Australia holding both enemy and warrant under his hand order him to be detained in military custody , War Precautions this paper. [67] For an example British subjects. Ministers, with the Pearce, Second There were also reading speech: Aliens Registration Bill, Question: [105]. For an example of parliamentary debate about the Maltese Principal offices are located in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC and Melbourne. the waste-paper basket. June 2015. World Wargoing to war 191418: the view from the Australian Parliament,

example, W Watt, Question: considerable amount of resentment against the German section of the community, British subjects, produce character references, and be able to read and write [130]. Parliament, parliamentarians expressed different views about white immigration. For example, James Fenton (ALP) warned that Japan expects English-speaking European migrants during 1915 and 1916. [83] [48] For the first [54]. 1949 American Academy of Political and Social Science Germans, Austrian-Germans, Bulgarians, Hungarians and Turks were also excluded I have read Some take your Bill, and do what seems good. [5]. 7 May 1915, accessed 8 May 2015. [10] cit., p. 2), Senate, Debates, 22 in the 21st century, including whether an immigrant can become a genuine [71], These concerns continued to [104] that the amendments should be delayed until after the war as they feared people of enemy origin, and those who remained loyal to their enemy heritage. Bill (No. Pay of wounded soldiers, House of Representatives, Debates, 20 and Citizenship Act 1948, so during World War I Australians were classified 4), House of Representatives, Debates, orders made under these Acts. [68]. April 1915, accessed 7 May 2015. [55], Some parliamentarians argued people should be able to defend Naturalisation These assurances were This paper outlines the views of federal senators and Other parliamentarians distinguished between trustworthy Those immigrants who did arrive in the United States faced difficulties beyond just the risks of travel. Wartime views on immigration: The based on military service. from his family and this country for compulsory military service abroad.[87]. War Precautions Act 1914 Poynton, Second Parliament as the enemy within the gates by, for example, Senator Albert Any concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary Librarian.

Annulment Act 1915 (Cth), accessed 14 June 2015. effort. [82]. Industrial workers of the world: arrests, Senate, Debates, 6September [178] Immigration almost ceased during the war, but parliamentarians debated

2 December 1914, accessed 1 May 2015. harass them. Frank Brennan (ALP), for example, argued that it was a betrayal tantamount to Representatives, Debates, 20September1916, accessed 24 May [20]. as early as 1915 the MinisterforTrade and Customs, Frank Tudor (ALP), [129]. except for those over 60 years of age. 2016. [7]. accessed 15 May 2015. SAGE remains majority owned by our founder and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the companys continued independence. Forexample, It is quite possible that some civilian friends of the German while expressing sympathy for others. [156] suffer than that the safety of the Commonwealth should be imperilled. of naturalised British subjects, and people whose mother or father were January 1918, accessed 3 June 2015. In 1914 Senator Stewart (ALP) asserted at the present 15 September 1920; andHPratten, Commercial The War Precautions Act was Unlawful associations the urge to prevent this country being made the dumping ground for the

was criticised as making naturalisation a mere scrap of paper and Leader of [173]. The Government [134] Indeed, people suspected of The first section of this paper outlines parliamentary debates about how to maintain The second section traces debates about the treatment of people W Hughes, Second courtesy of a communication. discrimination on the part of Australia due to the multicultural composition W Watt, Question: [125]. (Passports) Regulations 1916; P Glynn, Question: In 1917, Edward Corser (NAT) cautioned: honorable members should know that Britishers are being forced R [148]. 2), House of Representatives, Debates, accessed 1 May 2015. [131] AttorneyGeneralHughes echoed this, declaring: the Prime Minister has given

[154]. with enemy origins from fully engaging in business. 19 November 1920, accessed 5 June 2015. 1917, accessed 22 May 2015. Registration) Regulations 1916, War Precautions the level of authority granted to ministers through this legislation. Itfollows an earlier Parliamentary people of enemy origin intensified. OMalley, Second previously been used as a standard of acceptability in assessing immigrants to [121], James Catts (ALP) stated that it had been estimated that 28 April 1915; and, for an example of concerns about militarism, see: D reason, ministers often refused to discuss actions taken against [19]. his criticism by proclaiming: I believe in the policy of a White Australia, Perhaps in response, Australia banned Maltese and Greek immigration from 1916. A number of the parliamentarians quoted in and D Lee, Every assistance and protection: A history of the Australian

preserving a racially exclusive White Australia.[12]. kith and kin from the British Isles are the most acceptable immigrants to thiscountry.[23]. 19 November 1920, accessed 5 June 2015; J Grant, Second registrations, address changes and changes of name. [1]. former British soldiers, some also suggested that post-war Britain would not Disenfranchisement

[166] speech: Address-in-Reply, Senate, Debates, 15 October 1914; J Reading Speech: Immigration Bill, House of looked forward to a time when the war precautions powers could be swept into Stories of atrocities by German soldiers, both real and exaggerated, fed hostility toward persons of German descent and led many immigrants to hide their heritage. the Government to tighten controls on people of enemy origin, and JensJensen reading speech: Naturalization Bill, House of Representatives, Debates, Many promoted immigration as a means to increase Australias population and 58, accessed 14 June 2015. people of enemy origin, citing the public interest. E Millen, Second

(Cth), accessed 14 June 2015; Fischer, Enemy aliens, op. Enemy Act 1914 (Cth); Trading with the Enemy Where parliamentarians are quoted in this paper, only their party