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This paper explores the privileged position Japanese citizens held during the era of the White Australia Policy. The Immigration Restriction Act (IRA) was introduced in December 1901. As the major piece of legislation in the now-infamous White Australia Policy, the Act made it virtually impossible for non-Europeans to migrate to Australia and closed Australia to further settlement by the Japanese. However, Japanese people enjoyed a special position among non-Europeans under the White Australia Policy thanks to Japan's rising international status, as well as its sustained diplomatic pressure on Australia. Although the Commonwealth government was determined to exclude Japanese permanent settlers, it sought in many ways to render the policy of exclusion less offensive to the Japanese. In the early 1900s, two minor modifications to the IRA were implemented in order to relax the restrictions imposed on Japanese citizens. Moreover, in the administration of Commonwealth immigration laws, Japanese people received far more lenient treatment than other non-Europeans and were treated with respect and extra courtesies by Australian officials. By examining these privileges afforded to Japanese citizens, this paper aims to shed new light on the issue of Japanese exclusion under the White Australia Policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Australian governments’ engagement policies with the Pacific Island Countries up until July 2022 are examined. The security agreement signed between Solomon Islands and China in April 2022 shocked many governments that have security interests in the Pacific. Because this occurred during Australia’s election campaign, Scott Morrison’s Coalition government was vehemently accused of foreign policy failure for allowing China, a potential adversary state, to expand its influence in an island country that is strategically important to Australia. However, one may ask what policies Morrison’s, and his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull’s, Coalition governments pursued. Furthermore, after winning the national election on 21 May 2022, one may question what policy Anthony Albanese’s Labor government is implementing toward the Pacific. Accordingly, after outlining Australia’s post-World War II policy history toward the Pacific, the Turnbull, and Morrison and Albanese’s governments’ policies are analyzed. Subsequently, I explore how the Turnbull Coalition government started planning and implementing foreign policy to strengthen Australia’s relations with the Pacific under the banner of Pacific Step-up, with reference to Turnbull’s memoir that revealed his intention to counter China’s increasing influence and the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper. Thereafter, I discuss how Morrison’s Coalition government that took office in August 2018 developed the Pacific Step-up, noting the frequent bilateral summit talks before the 2019 coronavirus disease pandemic and various infrastructure aid projects delivered to the Pacific Islands. However, Morrison’s government, having close ties to domestic fossil fuel industries, failed to realize a sense of unity with the Pacific Islanders in relation to climate change. Finally, Albanese’s Labor government’s policy toward the Pacific is examined. Specifically, because of its commitment to a larger reduction of emission of greenhouse effect gases, the Labor government appears to be successful in achieving more enhanced relations with the Pacific Island Countries and the Pacific Family, as evidenced by the outcome of the Pacific Island Forum held in Fiji in July 2022. By achieving closer relations with the Pacific Island Countries and other partners such as the United States and Japan, one may conclude that Australia is accomplishing a favorable security environment in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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