The Limits of Discretion: the Role of the Liberal Party in the Dismantling of White Australia Policy
Author(s)
Tavan, Gwenda
Abstract
How significant was the role of the Liberal party in dismantling the White Australia Policy? Contrary to recent politicized claims and counter-claims, the answer is not a simple one. The party began well, in the wake of Labor’s clumsiness on immigration in the 1940s, but courageous exceptions to the rule during the 1950s were also undermined by enduring timidity. Pressure from concerned opinion, both inside and outside Australia, was making itself felt by the early 1960s, but it took Robert Menzies’ retirement and concerted efforts by Peter Hey don, Hubert Opperman and the new Prime Minister Harold Holt to amend policy to provide a more significant number of non-Europeans admission to Australia. The ideal of racial homogeneity died slowly for some, however, and it was left to the Whitlam Labor Government to sweep away what remained of the White Australia Policy.
