The History of Chinese Immigration in Melbourne

The History of Chinese Immigration in Melbourne
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The History of Chinese Immigration in Melbourne
China is one of the world’s most populous countries and over the years, a lot of Chinese men and women have migrated from China to other countries due to one reason or another. One of the countries that Chinese people have migrated to is Australia, giving rise to Chinese Australians who have a deep history and experiences living in Australia. This paper focuses on the history of Chinese immigration in Melbourne.
Immigration: An Overview
People have been moving from one place to another for years. The movement of people, characterized by long-distance and long timescales, is what is referred to as migration. Further, the movement of people to a given country is called immigration. Over the years, immigration has been associated with positive and negative consequences. Positive consequences include economic empowerment of individuals who move to a different country in search of greener pastures, as well as economic growth and development of the receiving country which often gains access to a wider workforce. Negative consequences include discrimination of migrants which can be characterised by emotional and sometimes, physical harm. In crossing the borders into a foreign country, individuals are often given documents that make them legal residents in a foreign country. However, as Mavroudi and Nagel reveal, not all migrants are documented and the undocumented ones are considered illegal migrants because they lack the legal rights given by a foreign country’s government. The aspects of immigration discussed in this paper focus on Chinese migrants in Australia before and after the White Australia Policy.[. Elizabeth Mavroudi and Caroline Nagel, Global Migration: Patterns, Processes, and Politics. (Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2016), 4.] [. Mavroudi and Nagel, Global Migration, 7.]
Chinese Migrants: An Overview
Chinese immigration to Australia can be traced back to the 1800s. According to Siqin and Thomas, the Chinese were driven to migrate by socio-political and economic factors. The most significant Chinese immigration to Australia happened in the 1850s during the gold rush. At the time of the Australian gold rush, the majority of Chinese migrants were men who came in as gold miners. They came in as temporary sojourners with no intention of settling down in Australia. However, some few men came with their wives and children and some married in Australia. As a result, more children were born in Australia, either by parents who were both Chinese or by a Chinese and an Australian parent.[. “Wang, Siqin and Sigler Thomas,” Shifting Dynamics of Chinese Settlement in Australia: An Urban Geographic Perspective. accessed November 4, 2021, https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/data/UQ_d13ea4c/UQd13ea4c_OA.pdf] [. “Culture Victoria,” Chinese Australian Families, accessed November 4, 2021, https://cv.vic.gov.au/stories/immigrants-and-emigrants/chinese-australian-families/]
The number of Chinese migrants rose considerably and by 1855, there were about 15,000 Chinese migrants in Victoria. Even after Victoria placed restrictions to discontinue Chinese immigration, the Chinese still found other ways to reach Victoria’s goldmines. More Chinese came from China and settled into neighbouring colonies of South Australia and New South Wales and then walked to Victoria’s goldmines for work. Their desire for economic freedom was stronger and it gave them a strong will to do whatever needed to be done to guarantee access to the goldmines. Subsequent Chinese migrants came to Australia as students and later, as asylum seekers. These include young Chinese who came to Australia as part of the Colombo Plan overseas student program and later, students who sought asylum in Australia because they could not go back to China in the 1980s due to socio-political challenges in the country.[. Peter McDonald, "Migration to Australia: From Asian Exclusion to Asian Predominance." Asia Pacific Migration, (2019).] [. McDonald, "Migration to Australia”] [. Jin Gao, Chinese Immigration and Australian Politics: A Critical Analysis on Merit-Based Immigration System, (Springer Nature, 2020), 8.]
Currently, Chinese migrants are the third-largest group of migrants living in Australia, just after those from England and India. They account for 2.5% of Australia’s total population. However, the demographic of Chinese migrants has changed now because men and women, as well as children, are now legally allowed to be permanent migrants in Australia.[. “Australian Bureau of Statistics,” Migration, Australia, accessed November 4, 2021, /statistics/people/population/migration-australia/2019-20]
Immigration Timeline
Significant Chinese immigration to Australia can be divided into the gold rush period and the Colombo plan period.
Gold Rush Period
In the 1850s, a lot of Chinese migrated to Australia in search of prosperity and happiness and the Australian gold rush presented them with an opportunity to gain economic freedom and make a living for their families back home. The gold rush resulted in a rise in the number of Chinese living in Australia, whether temporarily or otherwise. According to Gao, during this period, Chinese migrants accounted for over 12% of the Victorian population and about 4% of the Australian population. The number of Chinese migrants, however, decreased after the gold rush ended in the 1910s.[. “Culture Victoria,” Chinese Australian Families.] [. Gao, Chinese Immigration and Australian Politics, 4.]
Colombo Plan Period
In the 1950s, Australia, in collaboration with other countries, created the Colombo plan to help restore order and economic development in South and South-East Asia. Part of the plan was to provide scholarships to students from these regions through an overseas student program. As a result, many Chinese youths migrated to Australia for education and most of them stayed in Australia even after completing their studies and those who went back to China to work later migrated back to Australia. Also, the Colombo plan enhanced Chinese migration to Australia as it opened up opportunities for Australian educational institutions to recruit privately-funded students from China and other Asian countries. Even now, more Chinese are migrating to Australia in pursuit of higher education. Some of these students get to stay in Australia after acquiring permanent residency or work visas.[. Gao, Chinese Immig...