Settled as a white British outpost in Asia, originally as a convict prison, its government adopted what became known as the White Australia Policy to restrict non-European immigration soon after the founding of the nation in 1901. It was not until nearly 75 years later that laws were passed to ban race playing a part in immigration policy — but from the 1990s immigration again became one of the nation’s most contentious issues.

Source: Los Angeles Times March 17, 2019 09:56 UTC