When the separate Australian colonies joined in a Federation in 1901 one of the earliest bills debated was one to restrict non-Europeans from entering Australia, and preserve a “White Australia” (ignoring of course its Indigenous History). While the great majority were in full support of this, this paper looks at the few, some inside parliament and some out, who opposed its racist nature.

First presented at the Annual Conference of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia, October 2016