Chinese immigration to Australia and New Zealand: government policies and race relations

Australia and New Zealand share numerous similarities in the way they handled and managed Chinese immigration, both in earlier centuries and in contemporary times. On the surface, there seemed to be great differences: Australia practiced the notorious White Australian Policy while New Zealand enjoyed the reputation of being tolerant and a “race relations haven.” In practice, the only difference is that Australia’s anti-Chinese (and anti colored-migration) legislation was open and overt, while New Zealand’s anti-Chinese and anti-Asian policy was well-covered, and if not strictly “unwritten,” it was largely unpublicized (Brawley 1993).