REGISTRATION

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 155, 29 December 1938, Page 10

REGISTRATION

AUSTRALIAN ALIENS

PRECAUTIONS ARE NEEDED

WARTIME PRECEDENT

It is good to know that the Commonwealth Government is moving in the direction of a measure for the registration of aliens resident in Australia, says, a writer in the "Sydney Morning Herald." It will be quite a simple matter to draft an Act and regulations on the- basis ol similar measures in force during the Great War, but there is a danger that the machinery for the enforcement of requirements under the Act may be ineffective.

Already w- have thousands of aliens scattered throughout the Commonwealth, many of them quite desirable j citizens who have been long established here and have worked their way into the economic fabric, of this country to mutual advantage. But these aliens should be registered. In very recent times southern Europeans of a rather low type have been arriving in hundreds, and doubts have been expressed as to whether these people are altogether desirable, and whether they can readily be absorbed into the Australian community.

After satisfying the Customs require- | ments these people are allowed to scatter throughout the length and breadth of the Commonwealth, and no record is kept of their movements and whereabouts. These people should be regis- • tered in such a way that their movements and location are readily known. A FOREIGN ATMOSPHERE, j ' One has only to visit certain districts t in Queensland, particularly in the caneJ' growing' districts, to find colonies of • aliens whose conditions of living are " far below the Australian standard. •■ Many of them barely understand the 1 English language. Police in these dis--3 tricts have no great opinion of their 1 law-abiding propensities, but only once in a while do we hear of steps being 1 taken to repatriate undesirables. There | must be many thousands of aliens in *. Australia who remain loyal to their native country, and who would probably be exempt from any measure of conscription which might be introduced in the event of the necessity arising, and who might well be a menace and a nuisance f the authorities ' should Australia be involved in any international dispute. But at present great difficulty would be experienced in- rounding them up with a view to safeguarding the interests of the Commonwealth. A few months ago, when a plebis-* 1 cite was taken an ong Germans and Austrians over the absorption of Austria by the German Reich, ships took quite large numbers of these nationals to sea outside the three-mile limit from various Australian ports in order that they might record their votes. In Australia we are very tolerant of the people who have been admitted to this country, and they are under few disabilities as citizens.. Certainly there is very little change at the present time of these people staging any uprising on the score of being oppressed as minorities; but should the desire to revolt be insL ua+ed into their minds from any outside source, imagination could soon raise grievances. We have the spectacle of the uprising last May of Germans in one of the Brazilian States and, cor the Monroe doctrine, Herr Hitler would probably have seized upon the opportunity to exploit the situation with the Brazilian Government. "PROPER RESTRICTIONS." There can be little objection to aliens ' a suitable type being admitted to Australia under proper restrictions and safeguards, one of which should be that they should have a working acquaintance with the English language. These people should not be allowed to form colonies, and they should be required to send their children to schools where English is the mode of speech and teaching, so that they may have a chance of grow up with an Australian outlook. Immigrants, it may be presumed, come to this country because of the advantages it offers for their benefit, and it should be obligatory that within i a few years (say, six) they should become naturalised British subjects, assuming all the obligations and requirements of citizenship. The inquiries j always made in connection with natur- ' alisation matters would effectively discover whether the parties concerned had conducted themselves in such a ! manner as to render them desirable. ' The machinery for the effective re- , gistration and Control of aliens would ' require to be comprehensive, but need not involve the* country in any great expense. But no half-baked system would be of any value. It has been i suggested that registration could be effected through < the electoral offices. ' Such a system would be of no prac- ; tical value, as the persons concerned ' could, after registration, move freely ] about the Commonwealth, and no im- ; mediate record of their movements or ' whereabouts at any given time would be available. There has also beerf a suggestion that registration might be made through the" medium of the post offices, but the results could not possibly be any more satisfactory than those obtained by electoral officers. These appear to be the only service*- of the Federal Government which have Com-monwealth-wide application, and it is obvious that the results obtained through either medium would be re- ] strictedao the/extent that the aliens * themselves might be willing to comply '■ with the requirements of the relative s enactments. ' ' WAR-TIME EXPERIENCE. ' • During the Great War the Aliens Re- ] gistration Regulations were well and { efficiently carried out by the police of r the various States, and it may be con- j fidently asserted that there is no exist- ] ing service which could so well under- i take the work. It is known that for 5 some years the Police Department of i this State has frowned upon what is c known as extraneous work, and might i not now be very willing to { the work which would be involved in i the administration of aliens registra- y tion. But substantial reasons can be submitted as to why the police should ( be charged with the administration of j any measures which may be intro- T duced. j The police are trained in prosecut- , ing inquiries and could be depended \ upon to faithfully carry out the duties with discretion. The work connected ! with registration would put the police '<■ in close touch with class of people, t many of whom are unfamiliar with the I laws of this country, and who would £ benefit by a discreet word of warning t and perhaps also by a word of encouragement and advice. In the matter c of expense connected with the work, c there should be little difficulty in the c Commonwealth authorities arranging « to contribute sufficient funds to the I Police Departments of the various 1 States to cover the expense involved s lin carrying out the important work. c

The watchword of the day is "Preparedness," and while industry is being organised against eventualities we

are in no way prepared for the control of aliens in our midst who may know more of our defences than they should, and who, as already stated, might well become a serious menace. While ship after ship brings to us its quota of foreigners, the position is becoming more and more disquieting and difficult. Australians : who have travelled in Europe and the United States have experience of the strict surveillance which is exercised towards all strangers entering most countries, and any measures which may be taken here could not possibly be considered as being . directed against the nationals of any particular country.