‘Half Chinese, half white Australian – the mixed-race families who thrived when many did not amid 19th century prejudices’ | SCMP

"The Mongolian Octopus" in Australia's The Bulletin, 1886

By the 1850s, the opium wars had devastated China and brought the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) to the verge of collapse, while far to the south a gold rush had led to a period of unprecedented economic growth. Setting out towards a faraway fortune, nearly 40,000 Chinese men left home for "Xin Jin Shan", or New Gold Mountain, also known as Australia. [More]

And also another mention of an early Aussie of Chinese descent, Quong Tart, who I've posted about here.
My first wife was part Chinese, her grandfather from Shanghai. But she didn't know until after we'd met. It had been a family secret. The reason for her and siblings' dark complexion and almond eyes had been put down to "Spanish blood". At least we've grown past that sort of nonsense. I assume.

[And now I'm married to a Beijing-born, and we have a son together, so I feel pretty engaged with the whole issue of how Asians are treated in Australia and western countries]