Group of Chinamen sent back to China outside their Darwin Temple June 1914
Flexible regulations were used to remove workers as part of the administration of the White Australia policy:
When the 1897 cyclone destroyed much of Darwin, including the Temple and the slums behind the Chinese shops, poor workers were fed and clothed by their benevolent society. The slums were replaced by quickly erected and even worst buildings by landlords out to take advantage of the situation. By 1913, Darwin town elders demanded a clean up, including the return of the old and/or infirm to China. An inducement was offered, paid after completion of their sea voyage.
They were given a living allowance...but when the crunch came there was no option -- Leave or starve! It was a no-brainer -- all 58 Chinamen accepted, were hand-printed (to stop ring-ins) and shipped to the port for Canton for despatch to their home villages.