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The story of Irene Law, an Australian-born woman of Chinese ancestry, reveals how the White Australia policy restricted the rights and movement of non-European Australians. Born Lucy Maud Lem Cue in South Wangaratta, Victoria, in 1900, Irene was the daughter of a Chinese father and a New Zealand-born mother of British ancestry. After her father's death, she was adopted by a Chinese-European family and raised in Melbourne. At 18, Irene travelled to Hong Kong with her adoptive father. When she returned to Australia in 1921, she obtained a Certificate Exemption from Dictation Test (CEDT), a document that enabled eligible non-European residents to leave Australia temporarily and return without being subjected to the country's discriminatory dictation test. Although Irene had been born in Australia and was legally a British subject by birth, her Chinese appearance and ancestry meant she could still be affected by immigration restrictions. The dictation test was introduced under the Immigration Restriction Act 1901 and allowed immigration officers to require people seeking entry to write a passage dictated in a prescribed European language. After 1905, officers could select a language the person did not understand, making exclusion easier. According to the National Archives of Australia, the test was administered 1,359 times before 1909, with only 52 people admitted, and no migrants required to sit it passed after 1909. Irene's family knew little about these difficulties until after her death. Her grandson Steven Law says discovering her archived records brought both a stronger connection to his heritage and anger that an Australian-born woman needed official documentation to return to her own country. Artist Peter Drew's 'Aussie' poster series, which uses archival photographs of people who received such exemptions, has brought these stories into public view. The works highlight the contradiction between Australia's exclusionary past and the diverse national identity that exists today. The dictation test was abolished in 1958, while the remaining elements of the White Australia policy were dismantled by 1973. The story continues to resonate with Australians of Chinese and other migrant backgrounds, while raising broader questions about who has historically been allowed to belong.

Comparing Chinese vices in 19th Century Australia to those found in California and the USA at the same time

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