Post Wwii Migration Essay

Post WWII Migration

In the early 1040s, the population of Australia was about 7 million and most of the people were of British origin. It was a difficult time for Australia at the end of WW2 in 1945 because after the bombings of Darwin, many Australians were left feeling threatened by some Asian countries, especially japan. Australia realised that in order to defend their country they had to ‘populate or perish’. So the government began to encourage more people from overseas to come and live in Australia, which lead to the largest European migration program that the country has ever experienced. Many migrants were from Britain, but steadily people from other European countries were allowed to settle in Australia. Later, immigrants from other

Australia had come under attack from Japan during the war. Britain had promised to help Australia but had failed to do so and it was only from the help of the United States that Australia was able to keep the Japanese out. This incident made the Australian government realise that only 7 million people could not defend Australia and that they needed more people so that Australia would not be overwhelmed by any future conflicts. It was said that Australia had to ‘populate or perish’. At the end of the war in 1945, countries with devastated communities and economies started rebuilding. Australia had not suffered as badly as some other countries; however Labour Prime Minster Ben Chifley was determined to make Australia a stronger nation. It was decided that to achieve this goal Australia had to attract more workers from overseas that would develop new business, industries, building better houses and constructing more roads, bridges and railways. A new department of immigration was set up by the Chifley government and had the task to encourage people from overseas to come and live in Australia. The department was led by Arthur Calwell who was the appointed Minister of Immigration. Calwell announced the plans to increase immigration on 2nd August 1945. He had worked out that the population would increase naturally by 1 present or 70,000 people each year. Though Australia needed 2 present a year to flourish. Calwell

Refugees from friendly Asian countries had come to Australia during the war and wanted to remain in Australia, but Calwell sent them home. Australian soldiers that were serving in the post- war occupations in Japan had gotten married to Japanese women and wanted to bring them back to Australia, however the government did not let them. Over the course of the first year, 1947, only 23,314 immigrants arrived in Australia. This was less than half of Calwell’s target. Lack of suitable transport was part of problem. Gradually additional ships were found to carry the immigrants. Still, Calwell calculated that he could not count on any more than 30,000 British arrivals each year. The assisted passages began to be offered to ex- servicemen from other parts of the British Empire. Later the scheme was extended to ex- soldiers and freedom fighters from the United States, France, Norway, The Netherlands, Denmark and Belgium. The numbers were still short of the target. Calwell visited a number of refugee camps in Europe to find acceptable sources of immigrants. There were 1.6 million refugees in camps in 1947. Many of them were from countries that had come under Communist domination. Calwell was moved by the struggle of these people and made an agreement in 1947 with the United Nations International Refugee Organisation. At least 12,000 displaced persons would be accepted a year. Refugees from northern and eastern Europe were