1. History: Migration experiences Flashcards
1945
Arthur Calwell becomes Australia’s first
immigration minister.
1947
The Australian government
agrees to settle 12 000
displaced persons per year.
1949
Immigrants from many
European nations are
employed in the Snowy
Mountains Scheme.
1966
Migration is offered to non-Europeans.
1955
The millionth post-war immigrant arrives in Australia.
1958
The controversial
dictation test
is abolished.
1
966
Migration is offered to non-Europeans.
1955
The millionth post-war immigrant arrives in Australia.
1967
A referendum allowed First Nations Australians to
be counted in the census and the federal
government to make laws specifically for
First Nations Australians.
1978
The Galbally Report outlines key strategies to
promote multiculturalism.
1971
The Bonegilla Reception
and Training Centre closes.
1975
The Racial Discrimination Act prohibits
discrimination on the basis of colour,
descent, race, ethnicity or religion
1998
With a platform opposing First Nations Australian
land claims, multiculturalism and Asian immigration,
the One Nation Party gains 9 per cent of the vote in
the federal election.
2001
The Tampa affair sparks
national debate.
2008
The Rudd ALP government institutes the
processing of asylum seekers at
Christmas Island
2010
15 December, the boat SEIV 221 crashes against the
cliffs of Christmas Island.
2012
Over 100 vessels carrying more than 5000
asylum seekers from mainly Afghanistan,
Iraq and Sri Lanka arrive on Australian territory.
Hundreds fail to complete the journey and
perish at sea.
The Gillard ALP government reopens the
Manus Island processing centre
on PNG and Nauru.
2010
15 December, the boat SEIV 221 crashes against the
cliffs of Christmas Island.
2013
The newly elected Abbott Coalition government
introduces Operation Sovereign Borders, a
border protection policy which significantly reduces
the number of illegal entries by boat into Australia.
2016
The Australian High Court
dismisses a challenge to
the legality of the
immigration detention
centre on Nauru.
Understanding Australia’s Migration History
- Statistics are crucial in understanding societal changes over time.
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics collected data on migration to, from, and within Australia throughout the 20th century.
- The data shows trends such as rises and falls in immigrants, changes in immigrants’ country of origin, and types of work they do.
- Migration has been a constant in Australia’s history, especially since European arrival in 1788.
- Information about Australia’s immigration history is available in museums and libraries, including photographs, stories, interviews, and statistical data.
- Migrants’ stories have been used by social workers and policy-makers to promote better housing, working conditions, health, and education.
- The migrant experience is depicted in exhibitions at the National Maritime Museum and the Immigration Museum.
- The Albury Library Museum houses a permanent exhibition space, ‘The Bonegilla Story’, focusing on the experiences of migrants.
Photographs as Migrant Sources
- Photographs provide a snapshot of migrant living conditions, revealing affluence, age, and gender distribution.
- Examples include Yugoslav, Polish, and Latvian displaced persons at Bonegilla, a 1947 migrant center.
- Photographs can balance, augment, or counter other sources of evidence, such as personal bias in migrants’ stories.
- Oral history, often containing personal bias, can be supplemented or challenged by photographs.
Australia’s Immigration Policy Impact
- The White Australia policy, one of the earliest laws passed by the Australian government, was widely accepted and influenced the country’s immigration policies.
- The policy was designed to exclude non-whites from Australia, a discriminatory measure that gained widespread support in the first half of the 20th century.
- In the mid-19th century, immigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands were expelled from Australia due to fears of lower living standards and lower wages.
- The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 reinforced these actions, giving immigration officers more discretion in deciding entry.
- The dictation test was used to test a potential immigrant’s literacy, ensuring they would fail by testing them in unfamiliar languages.
Photographs as Migrant Sources
- Photographs provide a snapshot of migrant living conditions, revealing affluence, age, and gender distribution.
- Examples include Yugoslav, Polish, and Latvian displaced persons at Bonegilla, a 1947 migrant center.
- Photographs can balance, augment, or counter other sources of evidence, such as personal bias in migrants’ stories.
- Oral history, often containing personal bias, can be supplemented or challenged by photographs.
Post-WWII Australia’s Immigration Policy
- The dictation test was removed from the Immigration Restriction Act in 1958, used only 2000 times in six decades.
- Labor Prime Minister Ben Chifley aimed to expand Australia’s industrial capacity and competitiveness as an exporter post-war.
- Fear of communism in Asia led to the belief that increasing the population was the best way to protect Australia.
- Arthur Calwell, the first immigration minister, aimed to sell a message of hope to potential migrants in Europe.
- Calwell launched a publicity campaign in Britain and other European immigration centres to promote Australia’s natural beauty and economic wealth.
- Despite the increase in migration, the government was hesitant to open borders to non-Anglo-Celtic or European immigrants due to racial tension, poverty, and prejudice.
Australia’s Response to ‘Populate or Perish’ Strategy
Public Opinion on ‘Populate or Perish’ Strategy
* Most agreed that Australia needed a larger population for war protection.
* Anti-migrant sentiment was strong, fearing job loss and cultural distortion.
* Immigration was set to rise, with only those deemed most acceptable accepted.
Refugees Benefiting from Australia’s Loosening of Immigration Laws
* European refugees were the first to benefit from Australia’s loosening of immigration laws.
* After the war, over 20 million Europeans were displaced, many could not return home due to fear of persecution.
* Australia accepted many more Baltic refugees from Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania in the late 1940s.
Bonegilla Refugee Centre
* Residents were sent to barracks, provided with communal living conditions and English-language classes.
* Residents were required to apply for an alien registration certificate, which limited their political rights and access to social security.
* The centre’s basic living conditions and long-waits for employment led to disenchantment among some residents.
Immigrant Experiences in Australia
Opportunities and Challenges
* European migrant workers were employed in Australia’s largest post-war building project, the Snowy Mountains Scheme.
* Government aimed to attract 70,000 migrants per year to increase population.
* Journey to Australia was a one-month ocean voyage, with cramped bunk spaces and a constant reek of disinfectant.
* Some migrants chose purpose-built passenger ships like the Orcades, offering more comfort and amenities.
Child Migration Schemes (1922–67)
* Various schemes aimed to find homes for orphaned children in Australia.
* Over 7000 orphans from the UK were sent to Australia, adopted or sent to children’s homes and orphanages.
* The peak of these schemes was 1947–53, with around 3200 orphans transported to Australia.
Conditions for Migrants on Arrival
* Due to lack of housing, immigrants were provided temporary accommodation.
* The longest-running post-war migrant reception centre was at Bonegilla in northern Victoria, which housed around half of the 170,000 displaced persons who migrated to Australia between 1947 and 1951.
New Australians’ Hardships and Migrant Work Experience
New Australians’ Preparation for the World
* Reception centres prepared new Australians for the world outside the camp, familiarizing them with formal English, food, culture, customs, and attitudes.
* Australians were wary of the high intake of migrants during the post-war years, fearing they would take their jobs and struggle to accept the Australian way of life.
* Racism and attempts to exclude new Australians were common.
Personal Experiences of Greek and Italian Immigrants
* Greek immigrants to Australia attended English language lessons at the Bonegilla Reception and Training Centre in northern Victoria.
* Italian immigrants to Western Australia experienced discrimination due to their heritage.
Resisting Assimilation
* Many immigrants settled in suburbs alongside their country folk, practicing their religion, speaking their language, and socializing with their community.
Migrant Work Experience
* After arrival, non-British immigrants’ professional qualifications were generally not recognized.
* Most immigrants were placed in rapidly expanding areas of manufacturing and construction, facing prejudice from Australian co-workers and employers.
* Non-English speaking women who migrated to Australia found work in factories, with newer immigrants getting work in ‘dirtier’ industries.
* Life was more promising for those who gained work on large-scale projects, such as the Snowy Mountains Scheme, which paid relatively high wages and allowed workers’ families to live nearby.
range of different cultural and religious groups arrive since World War II, including from:
* Europe in the 1950s–1960s
* different parts of Asia in the 1970s–2000s
* the Middle East in the 1980s–1990s
* India in the 1990s–2000s
* Africa in the 2000s.
Australia’s Immigration Policy Impact
- The White Australia policy, one of the earliest laws passed by the Australian government, was widely accepted and influenced the country’s immigration policies.
- The policy was designed to exclude non-whites from Australia, a discriminatory measure that gained widespread support in the first half of the 20th century.
- In the mid-19th century, immigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands were expelled from Australia due to fears of lower living standards and lower wages.
- The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 reinforced these actions, giving immigration officers more discretion in deciding entry.
- The dictation test was used to test a potential immigrant’s literacy, ensuring they would fail by testing them in unfamiliar languages.
Australia’s Immigration Policy and Multiculturalism
- Australia’s immigration policy has evolved from a preference for European immigrants to embracing immigrants from all over the world.
- In 2013, Australia was invited to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest, indicating an evolving connection to Europe.
- From 1966 to 1973, the government encouraged immigrants to integrate, living like Anglo Australians in public but maintaining their own cultural practices.
- From the mid 1970s, the policy shifted towards multiculturalism, promoting respect and equality for all immigrants.
- Despite the shift, some within the community, media, and politics opposed it.
- Immigrants were required to respect Australia’s laws and values, while also being encouraged to maintain their countries’ traditions and customs.
- The Racial Discrimination Act 1975 made it illegal to discriminate against others based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin.
- The report by Frank Galbally in 1977 recommended equal access to services, cultural preservation, targeted service provision, and assistance for immigrants to become self-reliant.
- Improvements in migrant services included more ethnic schools, English language tuition and translation services, and migrant resource centres.
- The Australian Institute of Multicultural Affairs was established in 1980 for research and policy advice.
Pauline Hanson’s Influence on One Nation Party
- Pauline Hanson, a former fish-and-chip shop proprietor, gained political prominence in 1996.
- Disendorsed by the Liberal Party for comments on First Nations Australian benefits.
- Despite being voted in as an Independent, she was forced to sit as an Independent due to her controversial views on multiculturalism.
- In 1997, Hanson, David Oldfield, and David Ettridge founded the One Nation Party.
- The party gained 22% of the vote in Queensland’s 1998 state election and 9% in the federal election.
- In the 2016 federal election, the party won four Senate seats.
- An Al Jazeera investigation in 2019 alleged One Nation members sought financial assistance from the American gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.
Pauline Hanson’s Views on Australia’s Multicultural Population
* Pauline Hanson’s 1996 speech to parliament highlighted the rights of Australia’s multicultural population.
* Hanson argued that immigration and multiculturalism are issues the government is working on, but ordinary Australians have been excluded from the debate.
* Hanson argued that a truly multicultural country cannot be strong or united.
Multiculturalism Today
* Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser referred to multiculturalism as a response to societal diversity.
* The Australian government is committed to multiculturalism, with part of the Department of Social Services charter providing protection for multicultural nature.
Understanding Multiculturalism
* Multiculturalism is a term describing the cultural and ethnic diversity of contemporary Australia.
* It encompasses government measures designed to respond to this diversity.
* The Commonwealth Government identified three dimensions of multicultural policy: cultural identity, social justice, and economic efficiency.
Limitations of Australian Multiculturalism
* Multicultural policies require all Australians to accept the basic structures and principles of Australian society.
* Policies impose obligations and confer rights, requiring reciprocal responsibility to accept others’ views and values.
Australia’s Immigration Policy Impact
- The White Australia policy, one of the earliest laws passed by the Australian government, was widely accepted and influenced the country’s immigration policies.
- The policy was designed to exclude non-whites from Australia, a discriminatory measure that gained widespread support in the first half of the 20th century.
- In the mid-19th century, immigrants from Asia and the Pacific Islands were expelled from Australia due to fears of lower living standards and lower wages.
- The Immigration Restriction Act 1901 reinforced these actions, giving immigration officers more discretion in deciding entry.
- The dictation test was used to test a potential immigrant’s literacy, ensuring they would fail by testing them in unfamiliar languages.
