Al Grassby - Federal Politics

Federal Politics

Grassby won the rural electorate of Riverina for the Labor Party at the 1969 federal election. Labor had not won this seat for 24 years. Following Gough Whitlam's victory at the 1972 election, Grassby was appointed Minister for Immigration. In this role, Grassby became one of the more high profile members of the Whitlam ministry and was best known for ushering in multiculturalism in Australia and burying the White Australia policy. Grassby pushed for more immigration from non-English-speaking countries, "banned racially selected sporting teams from playing in Australia and repealed the law that required Indigenous Australians to seek permission before going overseas."

As the White Australia Policy had been formally revoked in 1973, Grassby's actions provoked disquiet among sections of the Australian community, including in his Riverina electorate and some of his ALP colleagues, who thought his reforms too radical for the period; but Grassby could point to his enormous popularity within multicultural Australia and the subsequent growth of support for the ALP from this section of the community as more than adequate recompense for any possible loss of support from white Australia.

In addition to his high profile crusade for multiculturalism, Grassby also gained wide attention for his flamboyant dress sense, his colourful ties and suits setting him apart from the unwritten dress code for politicians of sombre dark suits and plain ties.

Grassby's actions attracted criticism from anti-immigration groups, led by the Immigration Control Association, which targeted his electorate in a campaign at the May 1974 election. Partly as a result, Grassby was defeated by the National Party candidate, John Sullivan by just 792 votes. Grassby and his supporters accused these groups of mounting a racist smear campaign against him.