White Australia and the labour movement

Phil Griffiths challenges the enduring myth that the White Australia policy was the creation of the Australian working class. This talk was delivered as the Brisbane Labour History Society's Alex Macdonald Memorial Lecture 2023. Footnote from the author: In the lecture itself, and the original version of this text, I failed to acknowledge the important contribution Verity Burgmann made towards understanding the centrality of the ruling class in racial exclusion and creating the White Australia policy.