ONLINE EXHIBITION OF THE AUSTRALIAN HISTORY MUSEUM

Description: A one page certificate contains a front page; with descriptive information on the applicant Go Gee, a 26 year old Chinese migrant, two photographs, a proclamation from the customs officer and a blue stamp from Sydney customs authority. On the back page is a handwritten note with details of travel.

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This CEDT was provided to Go Gee as permission of re-entry into Australia within 3 years of the departure date. The document contains descriptive information allowing for the identification of Go Gee. This document would have exempted Go Gee from the infamous dictation test, the way in which restrictive immigration legislation was enforced.

Significance: This object illustrates the process which Australian residents went through to travel and return to Australia. The Immigration Restriction Act essentially prohibited Asian migration to Australia halting the growth of Asian communities. This object is the concrete embodiment of the fears and negative sentiment which grew from the gold rush era immigration influx.