Arts, Law and Politics: White Australia Policy, Anzac Day, Gender and Feminism

This essay discusses the influence of White Australia Policy on Australian politics, the significance of Anzac Day, and the development of women's rights in Australia.

Running head: ARTS, LAW AND POLITICS
Arts, Law and Politics
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A Recent Event that Influenced Australian Politics
White privilege has always been a topic of discussion, throughout the world. The
White Australia Policy was one such issue which can neither be specified solely as a
cultural event nor just a political one. This issue of the government’s effort to extricate all
Non-Europeans, went on for a considerable period. This essay aims to analyse the influence
on the 21st century Australian politics considering the White Australia Policy.
In 1901, right after Federation; there were certain policies that were devised to
maintain Australia’s “white” and thereafter “British” population (Ozdowski 2013). During
1925, the then Prime Minister, Stanley Bruce comforted the seemingly anxious public that
the racial composition of Australia has always been 98 percent British and it would stay the
same in the future (Awu.net.au 2018). After 1901, this policy was stabilized for about seven
long decades. Interracial dialect was applied to curtail international denunciation, but the
chauvinistic approach was very prominent.
A sequence of enactments, with a mutual objective to attain and sustain a white nation
was the driving force of this policy; it was not a lone government ordinance. There were
other Acts that were passed around in 1901, these were:
 The Immigration Restriction Act- to put certain boundaries and to deliver the
elimination from the Commonwealth of banned Immigrants (Ndhlovu 2008).
 The Pacific Island Labourers Act- it passed a law to extradite the clear majority of
the Pacific Islanders in Australia; only under permit as contracted helpers, till 31st
March 1904 (Shineberg 1999).
 The Post and Telegraph Act- it was concerning the “Postal and Telegraphic
Services” of Commonwealth; that it should cease to apply to the State (Moyal 1983).

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These three actions formed the former set of legislative bases of the politics then. The
Immigration Restriction Act epitomised the soul of White Australia Policy, highlighting the
nation’s hypocrisy. It was used as a tool for racial discrimination, although it did not mention
“white” or “race” anywhere in the title (Jupp 2006). The Act’s most infamous characteristic
was a dictation test, where a migrant would be asked to write a paragraph in any European
Dialect, within 50 words; where the officers could easily manoeuvre and exclude any
unwanted person. Its duality was soon perceived by the common mass and only 2000 people
took the test, within 1958 (McNamara 2009).
The White Australia Policy initially acquired a dichotomous support; unfortunately, it
was disassembled by both the sides. The Migration Act of 1958 was introduced by the
conservative governments, where the non-Europeans were approved to come to Australia
based on proficiency and propriety rather than colour (Vrachnas et al. 2011). According to
Tavan (2004), the Racial Discrimination Act of 1973 concealed the final remnants of the
White Australia Policy; which made it criminal to affront, abuse, exploit or coerce someone
because of their race. It was as much an ethnic as bureaucratic phenomenon, and it could not
be annihilated with a single act of court. The approval of many Vietnamese emigrants
administered by the Fraser government was a litmus test if the White Australia policy had
really dissipated.
From 1980 till 1996, Australia was overflowing with Asian immigrants. During the
2001 election, 438 Norwegian asylum patients were shipped off to Australia, although the
Prime Minister John Howard denied welcoming them. The support he received from the
people earned him the victory in election, as well as proved that the White Australia mindset
has not been eliminated. Scholars like James Jupp and Gwenda Tavan debated that this
ideology till now plays a significant role in shaping Australian immigration policies of the

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21st century (Willard 1967). The bifurcated undertakings of the re-appearance of Hanson’s
One Nation party after the 2016 election, lend some importance to this idea.
It can be thus concluded that even-though the policy of White Australia has been
eliminated; it still exists as an ideology, amongst people. Although it constitutes the minority,
this section till now wants to restore an ideal Australia of the past, along with its white mono-
culture.

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Anzac Day
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) consisted of soldiers who
fought during the First World War. 25th April is celebrated as ANZAC Day, in Australia, to
commemorate the military force of the nation (Slade 2003). Every year, the Australian War
Memorial, Canberra; presents this celebration, where chiliad of people come together to pay
their respects to the martyrs.
Anzac Day dates to the centenary of the landing on Gallipoli, in 1915. It is the day
when the Australians who served and died for their nation are remembered. The soul of
Anzac, with its qualities of bravery, solidarity and sacrifice, remains to have meaning and
significance for the value of national identity (Thomson 1996). This day, more than any other
event talks about the togetherness and the brotherhood that each Australian share for one
another, along with an extended feeling of patriotism for their Nation.
During the outbreak of war in 1914, a 13-year-old federated Australia, had to prove to
the other nations of the world, their strength and military power (Millar 1978). When Britain
opted for war, in August 1914, Australia was inevitably assigned on the side of the
Commonwealth. In 1915, the soldiers from Australia and New Zealand became a part of the
voyage that went to obtain the Gallipoli peninsula to open the Dardanelles to the associated
armadas. The final goal was to capture Constantinople, the hub of the Ottoman Empire, a
confederate of Germany (Basarin, Hall and Fewster 2010). The war strategy was to land on
Gallipoli and take the Ottomans down in a fierce battle. This war did not go as planned and
both sides had suffered massive casualties. The failure of the military forces was never
considered; however, the sacrifice caused them to leave behind an influential legacy.
The first Anzac Day was celebrated on April 25th, 1916; there were a series of
ceremonies that were celebrated across Australia, London and the Australian camp in Egypt.

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Anzac Day was for the first time founded by the people as a national day to memorialize the
death of over 60,000 Australians. It was celebrated as a public holiday from 1927, although
the candle light march, dawn watches, commemorative services, get-togethers, games; where
added to the celebration much later, around the mid-1930s (Inglis and Brazier 2008). Later
the men who died, fighting in the second world war were also honoured in this celebration. In
1942, the Anzac Day was celebrated at the Memorial; for the first time. Around this time the
Japanese air attacks were prevalent, so large gatherings or march was not approved; it was
just a small celebration (McAulay 1943).
During dawn, the soldiers laying in their defensive position in the battlefield were
woken and were ready to attack, by the time the first ray of light would befall. This could be
repeated during dusk as well. This is known as the Dawn Service (Sumartojo 2015). Since
the Australians refer to this day as a day of national remembrance, two different times of the
day is very important; the time of the actual landing at dawn is celebrated by memorial
services that are held across the Nation, during the rest of the day marches take place with ex-
servicemen and ex-servicewomen as participants (Kitley 1979).
The National Ceremony commences with the customary succession of service, at the
Australian War Memorial. This includes: the experienced troop’s march, the Celebratory
Speech, laying garlands, singing hymns, the sounding of the Last Post, following a minute’s
silence to pay respects and finally reciting the national anthems of Australia and New
Zealand (Hall, Basarin and Lockstone-Binney 2010). Thus, Anzac Day is argued to be the
true National Day of the Country; allowing it to replace Australia Day, January 26 (Inglis
1967). There was no sacrifice involved with this day. People need a reason to celebrate their
country’s greatness which they find attached to the sacrifice made by the Anzac troops;
giving this day a greater importance than Australia Day.

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“Contemporary celebrations of Anzac Day are exclusionary and divisive” – this
statement does not stand true. Australians can be seen fighting and arguing with one another
throughout the year, due to trade union or racial issues, but this Day witnesses no such
distractions. On this day, every person of this Country is observed to come together and pray
and celebrate with one another. It is in no way a disruptive event; thus concluding, the above-
mentioned statement does not have any validation attached to it.

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Gender and Feminism
From the inception of time, women have been assigned a lower position than men
within the gender hierarchy; throughout the world. It is the same with Australia, ranging from
healthcare to unequal payment of wages. The ideology of “women not equal to men” is the
driving force of any atrocity that comes in the path of women. This essay discusses the
significant development of women’s rights in Australia and the impact of it on the 20th
century society.
What laymen fail to understand is the difference between “gender” and “sex”. Sex is
biological- what a person is born with, that is, male, female or the third gender (Greary 1998).
Gender on the other hand is the sexual orientation a person adheres to- masculine or
feminine; that which the person identifies to while growing up, gender is generally imposed
by the society according to one’s sex (Holmes 2007). This often creates problem for people
whose biological sex differs from their idea of their gender. Such people are often open to
social ridicule and harassment of different kinds, leading to the rise of the feminists and the
LGBTQ+ activists.
Women and other individuals who do not follow the conventional gender barometer,
often have to face misogyny from the “superior” section of the society. Other factors like
race, ethnicity and class also add up as reasons of suppression. Misogyny is not a result of
hatred towards a kind, it is more of an idea that the “other section” is not as “superior” as
their own kind (Bloch 1987).
When the women all over the world were being suppressed and denied of their rights,
the Europeans took the initial set of responsibility to fight the cause. Thus, started the
Suffragette Movement throughout Europe during the 1906s; where they demanded their
basic rights (Kent 2005). This movement soon inspired women all over the world to stand up

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to men and fight against the oppression. 1975 was the year that marked the first ever,
International Women’s Year; on June 19th the UN conducted its first World Conference on
Women which took place in Mexico during this period (Paxton, Hughes and Green 2006).
The period from 1976- 1985 was assigned the United Nations Decade for Women. The
Whitlam government in Australia was seen spending over 3.3 million dollars on
arrangements for a two-year long celebration of the International Women’s Year (Stephenson
1982).
June 21st witnessed the Whitlam government’s introduction of a “no-fault divorce”.
On September of the same year, the first Women and Politics conference was held in
Canberra (Mohanty, Russo and Torres 1991). The Sex Discrimination Act was passed in
December for the first time by South Australia. In September 1982, Quentin Bryce was
appointed as the convenor of the National Women’s Advisory Council. She became the first
woman governor-general, in 2008 (City 2014). In 1983, Australia signed the convention to
end discrimination against women. Joan Child was nominated, Australia’s first female
Speaker, in 1986. Subsequently, Janine Haines became the first woman to control a political
party (Eveline and Booth 1997). Australia elected its first female chief minister in 1989. In
2009, Julia Gillard became the first woman Prime Minister of Australia.
In the year 2015, the #HeForShe campaign was joined by Australia, which wanted to
involve the men in the fight for gender equality throughout the world (Watson 2014).
Although the idea is for the greater good of the women and for the understanding of the men;
there were several controversies regarding the fact that this movement would allow the men
to feel that women need their help no matter what. As time progressed, the atrocities against
women in general started to change to atrocities against anyone who proves to be “weaker”-
emotionally or physically, than others.

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Thus, it is observed that people calling women with names, have changed to abusing a
woman or transgender of colour; only now a white woman is offered more respect than an
“aboriginal”. A society without discrimination is an ideological society, which is hard to
achieve. The oppressors do not just stop oppressing, they just change the subject and degree
of suppressing. Given the general view, gender inequality was combatted the day men
acknowledged women as their equal; but in all society lies hypocrisy. An ideal egalitarian
state is not possible to attain.

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