Favoured ‘Nordics’ and ‘Mediterranean scum’: transpacific hierarchies of desirability and immigration restriction

Abstract

This article claims that Australian attitudes towards European immigration during the 1920s can be understood as part of a broader transpacific exchange. Building upon histories that explore an immigration-whiteness nexus, the article refreshes histories of immigration restriction by triangulating the United States, Australia and attitudes towards European immigration into the same story. Centring exchanges between the United States and Australia, the article claims that Australian attitudes towards European immigration shifted in tandem with US immigration laws and hierarchies of desirability, while exposing that Australia’s ability to adopt a US-style restrictive immigration system was hindered by its lack of a comprehensive consular service.