The Australian city of Darwin was home to a

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

when "... 186 Chinese workers arrived in 1874 by ship from

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

." In Darwin, the Chinese faced racial discrimination much more compared to the rest of Australia. Darwin's Chinatown was described as "... an unsightly slum, where cramped unhygenic living conditions endangered public health." These reports were further used "... to order the demolition of several dwellings in Chinatown in 1913." Darwin's Chinatown was razed to the ground during World War II, through a combination of Japanese aerial bombing, and local looting and bulldozing. The territory's civilian population had mostly been evacuated during the war and returned to find their homes and businesses reduced to rubble. In 1943, the territory's administrator

Aubrey Abbott Charles Lydiard Aubrey Abbott (4 May 1886 – 30 April 1975) was an Australian politician and public servant. He served as administrator of the Northern Territory from 1937 to 1946, a period encompassing the bombing of Darwin and other Japanese ...

wrote to

Joseph Carrodus Joseph Aloysius Carrodus (3 September 1885 – 8 April 1961) was a senior Australian public servant. Early life and career Joseph Carrodus was born on 3 September 1885 in Richmond, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He studied at St. Patrick's Co ...

, secretary of the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

, proposing that the federal government use the absence of the Chinese population to compulsorily acquire Darwin's Chinatown and thereby effect "the elimination of undesirable elements which Darwin has suffered from far too much in the past". He further stated that the acquisition would "entirely prevent the Chinese quarter forming again" and that "if land is acquired from the former Chinese residents there is really no need for them to return as they have no other assets". Under the ''Darwin Lands Acquisition Act 1945'', the federal government compulsorily acquired of land in Darwin's town centre, of which was owned by Chinese residents. There is presently no Chinatown in Darwin. However, there is an office building named ''Chinatown'' and a car park called the ''Chinatown Car Park'', both on Smith Street in the city centre.

References

Darwin Bombing of Darwin Populated places destroyed during wars Art theft and looting during World War II Former populated places in Australia {{China-stub