Poll tax imposed on Chinese

The Chinese Immigrants Act was passed by Parliament, introducing a ‘poll tax’ of £10 (equivalent to about $1640 today). Ships arriving in New Zealand could land only one Chinese passenger for each 10 tons of cargo. In 1896 the ratio was reduced to one passenger to 200 tons of cargo, and the poll tax was increased to £100 ($18,500).

As work on the goldfields became harder to find, anti-Chinese prejudice had come to the surface. By 1871 there were calls for Chinese immigration to be restricted. In 1881 New Zealand followed Canada and the Australian colonies in imposing entry taxes on Chinese immigrants.

Organisations opposed to Chinese immigration emerged during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These included the Anti-Chinese Association, the Anti-Chinese League, the Anti-Asiatic League and the White New Zealand League.

The poll tax was waived by the minister of customs from 1934, but not repealed until 1944, after other countries had abandoned it. In 2002 the New Zealand government officially apologised to the Chinese community for the suffering caused by the poll tax.

Image: Poll tax certificate (Te Ara)