Daily News
IAC event: Chinese Merchants in the Northern Territory - Thursday 30 September
From: Sree Chandra
Valid from: Wednesday 22 September 2021 to Tuesday 28 September 2021
In the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries, Chinese merchants occupied a special position in many British or ex-British colonies, such as the Northern Territory (‘the Territory’) of South Australia, as facilitators of labour supply and trade and as leaders and representatives of Chinese communities.
The lack of restrictions on Chinese immigration to the Territory until 1888 enabled Chinese merchants to establish Chinatown and, in some cases, business networks that were transnational and transfamilial. While Territory Chinese merchants were esteemed by local business and political elites, the economic competitiveness of Chinese merchants in the Territory motivated a faction of European businessmen to push for limitations on employment for Chinese workers and for Australian colonies to uniformly restrict Chinese immigration in the 1880s and in 1901 with 'white Australia' policies, despite protests from the Chinese merchant leaders in the Territory.
Join the Institute for Australian and Chinese Arts and Culture, as this case study illustrates that ‘white’ policies were less about creating white nations than about constructing spaces for governments to benefit economically from ‘coloured’ people, while keeping them in subjection.
Details:
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Date: Thursday 30 September
Time: 4 - 5pm
Register: For more information and to register, please visit https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/iac/Chinese_Australian_History/aciac_chinese_australian_history_seminar_series_2/lecture_5_-chinese_merchants_in_the_northern_territory_and_formations_of_white_australia
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