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Hansard extract regarding conflict with Afghans on the West Australian goldfields
1. MR. MAHON: To ask the Right Honorable the Prime Minister -
1. Whether he has inquired into the truth or otherwise of the reports that Afghan camel-drivers frequently take forcible possession of the wells in remote portions of Western Australia; that they by force exclude white men from the only available waters in such regions; and that they are in the habit of polluting the water-holes by washing their clothes and persons therein.
2. Whether his attention has been drawn to the serious breaches of the peace following these and other alleged acts of aggression on the part of Afghans, and to the allegation that adequate protection to life is impossible owing to the enormous areas requiring to be patrolled.
3. If on inquiry he is satisfied that law and order are menaced, or the well-being of the white inhabitants of the Western Australian gold-fields endangered by Afghans or other aliens, will he provide for the absolute exclusion by law of such immigrants, and for the early deportation of those now residing in Western Australia.
