Harold Holt and the end of an era

Harold Holt was not new to the world of Australian politics when in December 1949 he served as Minister of Immigration. After becoming the youngest Australian MP with only 27 years, now, almost fifteen years later, faced one of the most problematic posts. The Liberal Party resumed its power twice by putting Robert Menzies, the last Liberal in 1941, in charge as prime minister.

The Holt-Menzies tandem will begin a series of reforms that will significantly relax the effect of White Australia's policies: the migratory program begun in the previous legislature is expanded, non-European persons who have resided for more than 15 years are allowed in Australia they can obtain nationality and Australia becomes a State Party to the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees. The Colombo plan was also launched within the Commonwealth in order to promote economic and social development within the Asia-Pacific region and which had as a main consequence the entry of many Asian students in Australia.

We must remember that, until this moment, Australia was composed of different independent colonies that functioned practically as quasi-States under the orders of the British Crown. The desire to regulate immigration from the colonies that arrived on the island was one of the reasons that led many to promote the idea of ​​an Australian national government. After a complex process of almost two decades, numerous assemblies and two referendums in order to coordinate and agree with the six major British colonies originating - Western and Southern Australia, New South Wales, Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria - with the beginning of the year 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia is created and the old colonies become federated territories of the new State.

This new situation did not change the vision towards non-European immigrants too much. In December 1901, the Immigration Restriction Law was passed, which further limited the entry into the country of non-European immigrants and facilitated the deportation of the islanders. The most important measure to decide the aptitude of the immigrants was a dictation in any European language, which supposed a barrier almost impossible to surpass for the majority of the aspirants. Although this law provided for some exceptions for Japanese, Filipino and Malaysian citizens, the consequences of these policies were not slow to be felt with a population decline in the first decade of up to 43,000 inhabitants. Years later, in 1919, Prime Minister Billy Hughes would call the 1901 law his most important achievement .

The great depression of the late 1920s and the outbreak of World War II will shake the foundations of this Australia clinging to the idea of ​​the white race. After facing a severe economic recession and the lack of manpower that affected all its sectors, Australia will be forced to open its borders to the new European refugees who were fleeing from countries of the Soviet bloc. Australia becomes a country of asylum in order to maintain its own survival, and its new inhabitants will contribute notes of color to a changing and continuously defining culture that begins to open up to modernity.

The Australian mentality had begun to change and opposition to the policies of white Australia not only began to sink deep among the population, but also made a significant dent in the highest political spheres of the country.

The most notable measure was the repeal of the Immigration Act of 1901, which was replaced by that of 1958. It established a new system of visa classes, the dictation test was eliminated as an entry requirement and the conditions were met. of deportation, among many other aspects that are still valid today.

In 1966, Harold Holt held the position of prime minister for a brief period until 1967, when he disappeared without a trace while swimming in the Pacific Ocean one December morning. During that fleeting term, important measures are carried out: residency applications begin to be accepted based on criteria such as the profession that, in spite of continuing limiting all those who did not consider themselves sufficiently qualified , formally eliminated the criterion of race. Holt would never know that his command had dealt a deadly blow to the impenetrable wall that the defenders of white Australia had erected around the nation.
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