“We Still Don't Like You but We Want Your Money”: The Case of Chinese Migration to Australia

Introduction

Australia from its outset was country of migration be it colonial or otherwise. The historic waves of migration have been in line with the formation and development of this country. Much of the early migration to Australia involved British colonial people movement both in the form of British, free settlers as well as convicts and petty criminals (Migration Heritage Centre 2017). Non-British settlement and migration on the other hand has however generally been a source of curiosity and even controversy.

Chinese settlement in Australia has evolved from being tightly controlled migration in the early times (enshrined through the Immigration Restriction Act of 1901), popularly known as the White Australian Policy, which effectively banned Asian migration for the next fifty years, through to more modern times whereby Chinese migration is amongst the top sources of migration to Australia. Highlighted by the last decade of strong economic engagement between China and Australia, the very relationship between these two nations have almost turned full circle. As Collins noted: “For most of its history Australia attempted to exclude Asians from Australian life, in the last decade Asia and Asians have played a greater role in Australian society that at any time in its history” (Collins, 1995, pp. 378). Today China is Australia’s largest trading partner, has a strategic Free Trade Agreement and challenges the US for Asian regional security leadership. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the changes in Australia’s approach towards the Chinese and how these changes have gone from initially being discriminatory to a business approach towards migration. In addition, this paper will seek to highlight the manner in which, different from the past, Chinese migrants have sought out Australia as a new destination and home from the 1990s until today.