Post War Memoirs

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Webs ites

Im ages from the Im m igration M useum M elbourne

at http://im m igration.m useum .vic.gov.au/

(Follow these links: D iscovery and

Research> Im ages on this site)

D epartm ent of Im m igration,Fact Sheet 4: Over

Fi fty Years of Post-war Migra tionand Fact

Sheet 8: Aboliti on of the White Austral ia Poli cy

at http://w w w.im m i.gov.au/ (Follow these links:

Inform ation Resources> Fact Sheets)

H istory Trust of South Australia at

http://w w w.history.sa.gov.au/

(Follow this link: M igration M useum )

A valuable collection of links from the M igration

H eritage Centre of N SW at

http://w w w.m igrationheritage.nsw.gov.au(Follow these links: Resources and Tools>

Facts about M igrants and M igration)

The International O rganization for M igration,

dedicated to the hum ane and orderly

m ovem ent of people around the w orld at

http://w w w.iom .int/

O fficial site of the U nited N ations H igh

Com m issioner for Refugees at

http://w w w.unhcr.org/

Am nesty International: hum an rights issues

affecting refugees in Australia athttp://w w w.am nesty.org.au/refugees/

G l o s s a r y

assimilation policy policy that encourages

im m igrants to adopt the

language, values and custom s

of their new country of

residence

integration policy policy that encourages

im m igrants to respect the

law s of their new country of

residence and to adjust to the

dom inant social and cultural

practices, but also to retainand celebrate som e elem ents

of the culture from w hich

they com e

Red slang term for com m unist.

Red w as the m ain colour on

the flags of m any com m unist

countries, sym bolising the

blood shed by w orkers in

defending them selves against

their oppressors.

refugee person w ho flees from danger

and seeks safety (refuge) in

another country, or in another

part of their ow n country

UNHCR office of the U nited N ations

H igh Com m issioner for

Refugees established on

14 D ecem ber 1951 to

safeguard the rights and

w ell-being of refugees

USSR U nion of Soviet Socialist

Republics a federation of

com m unist states that w as

form ed by Russia after the

Russian Revolution of 1917

26 M a k i n g H i s t o r y M i d d l e S e c o n d a r y U n i t s I n v e s t i g a t i n g P e op l e a n d I s s u e s i n A u s t r a l i a a f t e r Wo r l d W a r I I


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S u n n y A u s t r a l i a ? 27

Jo h n O K e e f e , A n n i e O K e e f e a n d f i v e c h i l d r e n

This photograph show s m em bers of the O Keefe

fam ily John O Keefe, Annie O Keefe and five

children. These people w ere key characters in a

very dram atic episode in the history of Australian

im m igration.

Annie w as born in Indonesia. H er first

husband, Sam uel Jacob, w as also Indonesian. Early

in W orld W ar II, he helped the Australian m ilitary

forces w hen they w ere fighting against Japanese

forces in Indonesia. In Septem ber 1942, because

of great danger, the fam ily w as evacuated to

Australia. They m oved into a house ow ned byJohn O Keefe, a single Australian. Just after the

Jacobseighth child w as born, Annies husband

w ent back to Indonesia on another m ilitary

m ission. H e asked John O Keefe to look after

Annie and the children if anything should happen

to him . In Septem ber 1944, returning from the

island of Am bon, he w as killed in a plane crash.

Annie Jacob becam e a w idow, caring for her

children in a strange land.

D uring W orld W ar II, m any Asian people

fleeing from the Japanese invaders found safety inAustralia. The Australian G overnm ent m ade it clear

that w hen hostilities ended, these Asian people

should return to their hom elands. At that tim e,

the Australian G overnm ent had a longstanding

policy to prevent the m igration of Asian people to

Australia. Thus, according to governm ent policy,

Annie and her children w ere destined to return to

Indonesia once the Japanese forces w ere defeated.

After Annies husband w as killed, she becam e

closer to John O Keefe. Three years later, on

4 June 1947, they m arried. H ow ever, in January 1949

the Australian G overnm ent insisted that Annie and

her children had to leave the country and return

to Indonesia. The w ar had ended in 1945, theJapanese had been defeated and the Australian

G overnm ent claim ed that there w as no longer

any reason for Annie to stay in Australia.

Som e Australians disagreed w ith the decision

of the Australian G overnm ent. They included

som e pow erful people, particularly Archbishop

M annix, leader of the C atholic Church in

M elbourne. There w as m uch publicity about the

case. Citizens in the M elbourne suburb w here the

O Keefe fam ily lived began raising m oney for a

legal challenge to the governm ent decision.Law yers for the O Keefe fam ily issued a w rit

against the Im m igration M inister, Arthur Calw ell,

and one of his departm ental officers. O n 18 M arch

1949, four of the six H igh Court judges ruled that

Annie O Keefe and her children could stay in

Australia. W hen the new s w as broadcast on the

radio, a nun (Sister Paula) announced it to all

classes at St Josephs School, w hich six of the

eight O Keefe children attended. According to a

report in the Heraldnew spaper the next day,students clapped and cheered. At hom e, Annie

and her daughter Tineke heard the new s and

Annie celebrated by dancing a jig.

O utside the court, John O Keefe said that he

w ould have left Australia w ith Annie and the

children if they had lost the court case. H e added:

But now w e can rem ain to com plete the task of

educating all the children. I am sure that there

w ill be no cause for regret that Australia has

obtained in m y Indonesian-born w ife and her

children som e very good citizens(Herald,M elbourne, 18 M arch 1949, p 1).

Th e Annie OKee fe s t or yA ustr al ianstory

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The Australian G overnm ent a Labor Party

governm ent led by Prim e M inister Ben Chifley

w as very disappointed by the court decision. The

M inister for Im m igration, Arthur Calw ell, announced

that he w ould introduce new legislation into the

federal parliam ent. If passed, the legislation w ouldallow the D epartm ent of Im m igration to send

Annie and her children back to Indonesia.

But Annie and the children w ere spared that

action. In 1949, the Labor governm ent lost the

federal election, and the new Liberal governm ent

led by Prim e M inister Robert M enzies decided that

Annie and her children could stay in Australia. The

new M inister for Im m igration, H arold H olt, said

that w artim e refugees such as Annie O Keefe

m erited special consideration(The Ar gus, 11January 1950). W hen H olt m ade that statem ent,

John and Annie O Keefe w ere expecting the birth

of their child w ithin tw o m onths.

1 Look aga in a t the photo o f the OKeefe fam i ly. Im agine tha t i t i s to be pub l ished in an Aust ra l ian n ewspaper in the la te

1940s. Wri te two capt ions for the photo one that could h ave appeared i f the photo were publ ished before the HighCourt decis ion, and one that could h ave appeared i f the photo were publ ished after th e High Court decis ion.

2 Create som e thought bubb les fo r th ree o f the peop le in the photo Ann ie , John and on e of the ch i ld r en . In each

bub ble, wr i te what each of them m ight have been th i nk ing about Austral ia as the ph oto was taken. You can ch oose

whether to date the photo before or af ter the High Court decis ion.

Examining a visual source

1 Wh y were An n ie a n d t h e res t o f h er f a mi l y se n t to Au s tra l ia ?

2 What was Aus t ra l ian governm ent po l icy towards As ian peop le who had sought p ro tec t ion

in Austral ia dur ing World War I I?

3 Wh y d o yo u t h i n k s o m e Au s tra l i an s su p p o r ted t h e r i gh t o f An n ie a n d h er c h i l d re n t o

stay in Australia after the War?

4 Wh y d o yo u t h i n k t h e L a bo r go ve rn m en t wa s so k e en t o m a k e s u re t h a t An n ie a n d h er

chi ldr en did n ot stay in Austral ia?

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The O Keefe story w as fam ous because it

challenged the w ay m ost Australians thought

about their ow n country. In 1945, 97 per cent of

non-Indigenous Australians had been born either

in the British Isles, or in Australia (usually w ith

British ancestors).

H ow ever, W orld W ar II had a profound effect

on the history of m igration to Australia and on

the present com position of the population. In

N ovem ber 1946, a year after the end of the w ar,

Australias first M inister for Im m igration, ArthurCalw ell, m ade the follow ing speech.

Source 1: Defending the wide brown land

The days of our isolation

are over The call to

Australians is to realize

that without adequate

numbers, this wide

brown land may not be

held in another clash ofarms, and to give their

maximum assistance to

every effort to expand its economy and

assimilate more and more people who will come

from overseas to link their fate with our destiny.

Arthur Calwell, M inister for Immigration, House of

Representatives, November 1946.

In 1951, just six years after the end of W orld

W ar II, Senator D orothy Tangney m ade this speech

to the Senate (one of Australias federal houses of

parliam ent in C anberra).

Sour ce 2: A speech t o t he Austr al ian

Senate in 1951

We are all members of

the British family and I do

not regard the transfer ofpeople from Great Britain

to Australia as migration

in the true sense. We

should accept people

from the Homeland as

members of the family to

which we all belong.

Senator Dorothy Tangney, Address in Reply,

Senate, 20 June 1951.

Wa n te d n e w m i g ra n t s !

G iven the w ords of Arthur Calw ell and Senator

D orothy Tangney, you w ont be surprised to learn

that the Australian G overnm ent w anted the m uch-

needed im m igrants to com e from the British Isles.

In Source 3 you can read the w ords of John, w ho

m igrated from Scotland in 1950.


Post-war immigration to Australia:Reffos and Ten Quid Tourists

Investigatingt he

evidence

A r t h u r C a l w e l l

S e n a t o r D o r o t h y

T a n g n e y

1 W h at do es Ar t h u r Cal w el l m e an b y t h is l an d

m ay no t be he ld in another c lash o f a rm s ?

2 H o w cl o se h ad Au st r al i a c om e to i n va si on i n t h e

years just before 1946?

3 Wh at two t h i n gs d oe s Ca lwel l s ay h ave t o h ap p en ,

to safeguard Australia?

4 Ca lwel l u se s t h e t erm a ssim i l ate . Th i s me an s th a t

newcom ers to Austral ia were expected to adopt

cur rent Austral ian ways of l i fe. Which group s of

people from overseas would probably f in d i t easiest

to assim i late in Austral ia?

5 Wh at i s t h e l i n k b etwee n Ca lwel l s u s e o f

assim i late and the ideas in Dor othy Tangneys

speech (Source 2) ?


1 Ac co rd in g to Sen a tor Do ro th y Ta n gn e y, wh a t i s t h e

fam i ly to whi ch al l Austral ians belong?

2 Wh y d o es Se n ato r Do ro th y Ta n gn e y sa y t h a t t h e

m igrat ion of Br i t i sh people to l ive in Austral ia is not

real ly m igra t ion ?

3 Se n ato r Do roth y Ta n gn e y u s es t h e t erm we i n h e r

speech. Of a l l th e people l iv ing in Austral ia at th at

t im e, who m ight not have fe l t that they were

inc luded in the term we ?

Comprehending and interpreting textNe

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Sour ce 3: Sun ny Austr al ia

Come and live in sunny Australia. This hoarding

was about 20 feet long and 15 feet high [about

7 m 5 m]. It showed a healthy looking tanned

Australian smiling with a hand beckoning a

welcome to all. He was standing bathed in

sunshine at a beautiful beach wearing bathers,

you could practically hear the surf coming in

To the left of the scene there were Palm trees

with coconuts, piles of pineapples and oranges,

apples, grapes, pawpaws and all types of t ropical

fruits appeared to be there for the taking Who

could possibly resist that. I couldnt and I didnt.

The tremendous differences were

staggering; working hours in Australia were only

40 hours a week with very generous sick pay In the UK all of these things were important but

[in Australia] most important of all was there was

no class or caste barriers. There was a policy of

full employment. This w as a very important

consideration for working people.

Gray, Bronwyn and Young, Alan 1989, The Ten Quid

Tourists, New World Arts, Melbourne, p 9.

Johns w ords are an exam ple of the pushpull

factorsthat affect m igration from one country to

another. In Johns case, he felt pushedfromScotland by som e factors and pulledto Australia

by others.

Source 4: An Austral ian Government

pos ter used in England to a t t rac t

po ten t i a l m ig ran t s


In your work book , d raw a

table l ike the one opposi te

and use in fo rm at ion f rom

John s accoun t ( Sour ce 3)

to com plete the gr id . As

you com ple te th is un i t ,add extra factors that you

discover f rom other

sources.

Identifying and analysing information

Motivations for immigration

Push Pull

1 I m agi n e w h o th e m a n i n th e po st er ( So u r ce 4 ) c ou l d

be im agine a nam e for h im and for h is son ; im agine

his occupat ion, wh o else is in h is fam i ly, what he

doesn t l ike about h is present l i fe in En gland, wh at

he hop es l i fe would be l ike in Austral ia. Use yourideas to f in ish h is sen tence In Aus tra l ia I wi l l .

2 I m agi n e t h at th e m a n i s b ei n g i n t er v i ew ed b y a

reporter for a 1950s London TV show. With a

classm ate, take on the r oles of the reporter an d the

m an. Devise som e quest ions and answers for the

inter v iew. Discuss with your teacher wh ether youcan perform your in terv iew for the c lass.


DILGEA,AustraliaandImmigration:17881

988,AGPS,1988,p56/CourtesyStateLibraryofVictoria


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O ne pushpull factor that w as im portant w as

the offer of assisted m igration. At different tim es

throughout Australias history in the nineteenth

and tw entieth centuries, European m igrants had

been offered financial incentives to m igrate to

Australia. These offers included, at various tim es,free or subsidised passage on ships and grants

of land in Australia. U ntil 1920, the separate

colonies/states ran their separate schem es of

assisted m igration. After 1920, the federal

governm ent took responsibility.

Perhaps the best know n assistance schem e

w as the popularly nam ed ten pound tourist

schem e, first set up in 1937. British m igrants w ere

asked to pay just ten pounds ($500$1,000 at

todays values) to cover the cost of their m igration.

The other costs of transporting them to Australia

and resettling them w ere shared by the B ritish and

Australian governm ents. W orld W ar II disrupted

the schem e, but it becam e the basis of the post-

w ar program s to attract large num bers of m igrants.

Schem es of assisted m igration encouraged the

adequate num bersof m igrants that Arthur

Calw ell said w ere needed for the developm ent

and security of our w ide brow n land.

Although the Australian G overnm ent

preferred British im m igrants, it did accept som enon-British people for a special reason. In Europe,

W orld W ar II and the H olocaust (the large-scale

persecution, im prisonm ent and execution of

Jew ish people by the G erm an N azi regim e) had

caused great turm oil. W hen G erm any w as

defeated, the U SSR occupied a num ber of East

European nations that had been invaded by the

G erm ans. H ordes of people w ere displaced and

hom eless. They w ere called refugees people

seeking refuge, or safety. M any refugees dream ed

of a new life in another country such as theU nited States, Canada or Australia. In 1947, the

Australian G overnm ent agreed to accept non-

British refugees from Europe.

In 1948, artist and w riter Judy Cassab, her

husband, Jansci, and their tw o children w ere living

in Budapest, the capital of H ungary. H ungary had

been occupied by the U SSR. Against enorm ous

odds, Judy and her husband had survived the w ar.

O ther m em bers of her extended fam ily perished

in the H olocaust. Source 5 is an entry in her diary

explaining w hy she w anted to leave com m unist-

controlled H ungary.

Source 5: Judy Cassab

a t t em pts t o l eave

H ungary

25 January 1948

My passport application

was refused with no

explanation. Its most

difficult to get one. The

[Hungarian] government

likes to keep the families where one member

can travel hostage [Her husband Jansci w as

given permission to travel to the West for work.]

I am longing to bring the children up somewhere

where they can feel they belong. We shall

migrate. Jancsi says, These are the people w ho

killed our families* and I cant live and workamong killers.

Adapted extract from Cassab, Judy 1995,

Judy Cassab Diaries, Random House Australia,

Milsons Point , New South Wales.

Reprint ed by permission of Random House Australia

[*The people who killed our families were

those Hungarians who had collaborated with the

German Nazis, and who had helped the

Holocaust extend from Germany into Hungary.]

Judy Cassab, her husband and tw o children

m igrated to Australia in 1951 under the D isplaced

Persons schem e.

By the tim e Judy Cassab arrived in Australia,

Australia had begun to sign agreem ents w ith

various European nations, allow ing m igration by

people from those nations to Australia. The

agreem ents w ere m ade w ith M alta (1948), Italy

and the N etherlands (1951), Austria, Belgium ,

G reece, W est G erm any and Spain (1952).

Ju d y C a s s a b

1 H o w d i d t h e H u n g ar i an Go ver n m en t m a k e Ju d y

Cassab in to a ho stage? What does the hostage

system suggest about h ow m any people fel t about

l i v ing in com m un is t-con t ro l led Hu ngar y?

2 Use what you ve learn ed about Judy Cassab to add to

your table of pushpul l factors.


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Tw o w a ys mee t

The languages, cultures and lifestyles of these

non-British im m igrants w ere often quite different

from those found in British-influenced Australia.

N ot surprisingly, this produced som e m isunder-standings and som e conflicts. For exam ple,

Andrew Riem er had a difficult tim e on his first day

of school in Australia. Like Judy Cassab, Andrew s

fam ily had m igrated from H ungary.

Source 6: Andrew

Riemer s f ir s t day a t

school .

The bemused boys

surrounded me on thatfirst morning, staring in

wonderment at an

overcoloured scarecrow

[Andrew s mother had

sent him to school wearing coloured striped

socks, sandals, a blue shirt and shorts the

Aussie boys w ere w earing grey] Small eyes

looked suspiciously out of freckled faces; thin

lips were pursed in disapproval I cannot

adequately describe the sense of total desolation

that descended on me during those first days

I understoo d almost nothing of w hat w ent on

around me I w as treated w ith sympathy and

a degree of kindness, apart from one or tw o

roughnecks who jeered at me and mocked my

prissy ways [People] had been called on to

deal with a deaf mute in striped socks.

Riemer, Andrew 1992, Inside Outside, Angus &

Robert son, Pymble, New South Wales, pp 9093.

Som e Australians have also recorded their

m em ories of w hat happened w hen they w ere

confronted w ith im m igrants from very different

backgrounds. In Source 7, H ugh Lunn, a fam ous

journalist, recalls one day w hen he w as in Year 5 at

school. D im itri, w hose fam ily w as from Russia, hadarrived in H ughs class.

Source 7: Hugh Lunn and

D ima

You Communist pig, Dima,

I sneered from behind him:

shortening Dimitri because it

w as long, as was our custom.

Confident in the knowledge that

none of the boys around me wanted anythingto do w ith him, and convinced that he w as too

scared to answer I continued: You Russian dog

Dima. At last after nearly six years, I had found

a way to be popular with the rest of the boys.

Just as I was about to give the Russian

another one, Egoroff [Dimitri] turned around:

You Australian donkey, he said, in English

You Red w orm, I answered just before Egoroff

lunged his palms at both sides of my head saying,

I rubber your ears, I rubber your ears.

It w as like torture If ever an example of

Red aggression was needed this was it.

Lunn, Hugh 1989, Over the Top w ith Jim,

University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, p 4.

Extract reprinted with kind permission from

Hodder Headline Australia 2001

A n d r e w R i e m e r

H u g h L u n n

1 Wh y do es An d re w d esc r i b e h im se lf a s a d ea f mu te

in str iped socks?

2 Ho w d id An d re ws c l assm a te s re sp o n d to h im ?

3 Af ter a few weeks Andrew was sent to the Specia l

Class for in te l lectual ly chal lenged students. In later

l i fe, Andr ew proved hi m self to be inte l lectual ly

ta lented. Why do you th ink he woul d have been sent

to a Special Class?


1 Why was Hugh fee ling conf iden t as he taunted Dim i t r i?

2 Wh at d i d Hu g h wan t t o a ch ie ve b y i n s u l ti n g D im i t r i ?

3 Fo rm a gro u p o f t h re e w i t h two cl assm a te s. Ta k e o n

three ro les D im i t r i , Hu gh, and the teacher who h as

discovered the two of them f ight ing. Talk about wh at

m ight have happened, and th en prepare a ro le-play

to perform . Think about these issues:

h o w th e teac h er w i l l fi n d o u t wh a t h a pp en e d

w h et h er t h e t w o b o ys w i ll t el l th e tr u t h

w h et h er t h e teac h er w i l l pu n i sh e i th er o r b o th

of the boys

wh a t th e t ea ch e r w i l l sa y t o th e b oys an d t o t h e

rest of the c lass about such b ehaviour h o w th e two b o ys m igh t r e ac t o n c e t h e t ea ch e r

goes aw ay.



HughLunn

AndrewRiemer


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H ugh Lunns com m ent about Red

aggressionis a rem inder that m any

Australians m isunderstood the bigger

picture of im m igration. Those Russians w ho

cam e to Australia w ere usually fleeing from

com m unism , a regim e that they opposed.They w ere refugeesfrom com m unism

exactly the opposite of the Russians w ho

m any Australians feared as the Red Threat.

The experiences of im m igrants varied

greatly. Youve seen that som e of Andrew

Riem ers class w ere sym pathetic and kind,

w hile m ost of H ugh Lunns class approved

of his taunting D im itri. Source 8 is another

recollection from the tim e, by fam ous

Australian playw right Louis N ow ra. H e w ent

to school in outer M elbourne.

Source 8: Fawkner

State School

Usually, up to a

quarter of the pupils

in our classes could

not speak English.

They were the

overflow from the

Broadmeadows

migrant hostel school. They spent recesses

together even though they might not

speak each others languages because

it was preferable to being among the

Australians whose abuse of these wogs was

unrelenting. Even though these migrants

may not have understood English they

quickly understood that in the playground

they were the low est of the low. These

children passed through my classes as ifcaught in a rapidly revolving door. Arriving

one day, wide-eyed with fear, they sat mute

and puzzled through the various subjects

until, dull-eyed with incomprehension at

the new world they found themselves in,

they vanished some weeks or months

later, having learnt little except to find

strength in pretending to be invisible.

Extracts from Nowra, Louis 1999, The Tw elfth

of Never, Picador, Sydney, pp 11011.

Published by Pan Macmillan Australia


L o u i s N o w r a

All the sources youve read so far suggest that the

non-British Australians w ere expected to assim ilateto fit into the existing w ay of life in Australia. This w as

the expectation of m ost Australians at the tim e and the

official policy of the Australian G overnm ent. In 1957, an

Italian-language sports new spaper in Adelaide offered

this hum orous com m ent on assim ilation.

Source 9: Are You Assimilated? Try Our

Assim i lat ion Test .

1. Do you speak English always, whether in private or

public, and even in your sleep?2. Have you sworn off coffee, garlic, w ine, olive oil and

spaghetti?

3. Have you given up soccer?

6. Have you planted an Avenue of Honour lately?

11. Do you like to eat meat for breakfast?

Extracts fromRoma, AprilMay 1957, p 4.

N ote that the test refers to coffee, garlic, w ine, olive

oil and spaghetti. In 1957, m any Australians thought

these w ere w ogfood and drink. Today, how ever, m ost

Australians enjoy m ost or all of these things. This can

1 W h y d i d th e im m i gr an t ch i l d r en s ti ck t oget h er d u r i n g

recesses at schoo l?

2 Wh at f eel i n gs do es Lo u i s Nowra sa y t h at t h e im m igra n t s

experienced?3 I m agi n e th a t yo u a r e a yo u n g an d e n th u s iast i c p r i m a r y

school teacher in th e 1950s. In your c lass are a nu m ber

o f non-Eng l ish-speak ing im m igran t ch i ld ren . Im agine tha t

their exper iences are l ik e those descr ibed b y Andr ew

Riem er, Hu gh Lunn and Loui s Nowra. Wri te a let ter to the

Dir ector of Educat ion, m aking suggest ions to im prove the

school exper iences of the im m igrant chi ldr en in a l l schools.


1 Ho w ca n yo u t el l t h at t h i s i s a se n d -u p , an d n o t a ge n u in e

test?

2 D o yo u t h in k t h at h u m o u r i s a go od w ay t o d eal w i th

ser iou s issues? Do you th in k th is hum orou s test could h ave

led som e Austral ians to th in k m ore deeply about th e

t reatm ent o f non-Br i t i sh m igran ts in Aus tra l ia?


Duffy&Snellgrove


10/16

rem ind you of one consequence of the

im m igration of non-British people to Australia

the changes in Australianseating and drinking

habits. Looking back years later, Andrew Riem er

thought about this.

Sour ce 10: A t wo -way p r ocess

No one seemed to

realise at the time

(or was prepared to

admit it publicly) that

assimilation could well

become a two-way

process. The emphasis

was always on the

newcomers obligationto merge into Australian society, to adopt its

ways, to learn its customs, without the least

altering patterns of behaviour, religious practice

or communal ethics. The possibility that the

migrant population might change the face of

Australian society was generally feared.

Riemer, Andrew 1992, Inside Outside,

Angus & Robert son, Pymble, New South Wales.

Migran t con t r ibu t ions

to Austral ia

M igrants have changed the face of Australian

society. Som e of the m ost obvious ways involve

food and drink, clothing fashions and sport.

The im pact on Australian culture and lifestyle

is easiest to see. But im m igrants m ade vital

contributions in other w ays. They provided

m ost of the w orkforce for the m ost am bitious

developm ent project ever undertaken in Australia

the fam ous Snow y M ountains Schem e, w hich

harnessed w ater for agriculture and the production

of hydro-electricity. O thers w orked as labourers

and process w orkers on building sites and in

factories. Their w ork helped to produce houses,

roads, public buildings, cars and w hite goods

during the econom ic boom of the 1950s and 60s.

Som e took jobs as sales assistants in shops.

M any im m igrants started their ow n businesses

such as cafes, delicatessens, fruit shops, clothingand tailoring shops. O n the outskirts of cities, and

in rural areas, they becam e m arket gardeners and

farm ers. As the years passed, im m igrant children

succeeded at school, studied at universities or

technical colleges and becam e valued m em bers

of the professions (including doctors, law yers and

engineers) and the trades (such as builders,painters and electricians). G radually, these

Australians w ith non-British backgrounds becam e

increasingly involved in com m unity w ork as

m em bers of parliam ent and councils, and of

service clubs and com m unity organisations.

For m any, the path w as not easy. Som e

Australians dem onstrated lingering suspicion,

prejudice and discrim ination. The abusive term s

w og, Baltand reffow ere still heard. Leonard

D urtanovich, a prom ising cricketer of east

European background, gained selection in the

Australian test team , but changed his nam e to

Len Pascoe.

C h a n g i ng a t t i t u d e s

N ew governm ent policies altered Australias

im m igration pattern. In 1949, the N ationality and

Citizenship Act created the status of Australian

citizen. U ntil then, Australians w ere officiallyBritish subjects. G radually Australias im m igration


1 I n a gr o u p , b r ai n st or m t h e i m m i gr a n t i n f lu e n ces

that you are aware of in your own l i fe and in your

own com m un i ty. Concent ra te on the im m igran t

groups that cam e to Austral ia in th e 1950s people

from south and east Europe ( for exam ple I ta ly,

Greece, Hu ngar y, Yugoslavia, Tur key) an d from theMi ddle East ( for exam ple Lebanon ) . Collect m agazin e

im ages, n ewspaper art ic les, advert isem ents and

other sources about th ese inf l uences. Use these

sources to design an d pr oduce a poster h ighl ight ing

the im m igrants im pact on Austral ian society.

2 Exp lor e memoir as evidence in hi stor y. Write a

br ie f m em oi r f rom your own schoo l days to 2001.

With th ree other c lassm ates share your stor ies.

W h at p i ct u r es em er ge of Au st r al i an s ch o ol

l i fe in the late 20th century? Wh at are t h e s tr e n gth s a n d wea k n esse s o f

m em oirs as evidence in h istory?

Use your f indings to support your work on Adding

to the evidence on page 35.

Further activitiesFurther activitiesFurther activities

AndrewRiemer


11/16

law s w ere freed up, especially in relation to non-

European people. In 1947, non-Europeans w ho

had been in Australia for 15 years under special

perm its w ere allow ed to stay indefinitely. In 1957,

these sam e people w ere able to becom e Australian

citizens. In 1958, Australia abolished the D ictationTest. This test had allow ed a potential im m igrant

to be given a test in any European language. It

could be used to deny entry to anyone considered

undesirable by officials. In 1966 the new Liberal

Prim e M inister, H arold H olt, announced a

relaxation of im m igration rules for non-Europeans.

Instead of som e non-Europeans being adm itted as

special cases, non-Europeans w ho qualified under

im m igration guidelines could be adm itted. They

w ere to be treated in the sam e w ay as other

potential im m igrants.

W hy did these changes occur? As w ith m any

historical developm ents, the causes w ere probably

com plex. Certainly, there w as pressure on Australia

from our Asian neighbours countries like India,

Pakistan, Indonesia, M alaya and Singapore, w hich

had gained their independence after W orld W ar II.

(Previously, they had been colonies ruled by

various European nations.) Australian

governm ents Labor or Liberal w anted good

relationships w ith these nations in our region.

In Australia, lobby groups such as theIm m igration Reform G roup form ed to pressure the

governm ent. They seized upon som e celebrated

cases of apparent unfairness to non-European

people in Australia, such as those of Sergeant

G am boa, a U S soldier of Filipino background w ho

had m arried an Australian w om an during W orld

W ar II but w ho w as refused perm ission to stay in

Australia w ith her and their children; and Shiri

Prasad, an Indian Fijian, w ho w as deported even

though he w anted to stay in Australia, w here his

five-year-old daughter Nancy w as in hospital.

At the sam e tim e, Australian society adopted

m ore liberal ideas. M any people had begun to

think m ore deeply about issues of hum an rights

and justice, especially w hen the horrors of the

H olocaust w ere revealed after W orld W ar II.


1 Dra w a tim e li n e f r om 1 9 4 5 t o 19 6 6 . On i t , m a k e en t r i e s d esc r i b i n g m a jo r e ve n ts a n d d eve lo p m en ts i n t h e

histor y of m igrat ion to Austral ia.2 A nu m ber o f ext racts in th is sec t ion a re taken f rom m em oi rs of everyday Aus t ra l ians , usua l ly pub l ished as

books. Thin k about th e use of such m em oirs as histor ical evidence. In part icul ar, th in k about th e character ist ics

l is ted below. Draw a table l ike the fo l lowing in your work book and w ri te your opi nion next to each of the statem ents.

Adding to the evidence

Characteristic of some personal How could this affect the value of thememoirs memoir as an historical source?

Mem oi rs m ay be wr i t ten m any years a f ter

the events that th ey describ e.

Auth ors m ay not want to present anun f lat tering or n egat ive im age of them selves.

I n t he i r m em o i rs , au t ho rs m ay be w r i t ing

about people who are st i l l al ive, and who

are wel l kn own to the author s .

Mem oi rs descr ibe im portant events throu gh

the eyes of jus t one person the author .

Au t ho rs m ay hope t ha t t hei r m em o i rs

becom e bestsel l ing books.


12/16

In countries other than Australia, post-w ar

im m igration had a profound effect. The U nited

States of Am erica has experienced m assive w aves of

im m igration throughout its history. Today, in N ew

York harbour, there are tw o dram atic rem inders.

O ne is the fam ous Statue of Liberty. The other is

nearby, Ellis Island, w here m illions of im m igrants

first landed w hen they reached the U nited States.

The Statue of Liberty w as a gift to the people of

the U nited States from the people of France. It w as

unveiled on 28 Septem ber 1886. O n a plaque atthe base of the statue is a fam ous poem w ritten in

1883 by Em m a Lazarus. M any people believe the

poem sum s up the feelings of Am ericans tow ards

im m igrants. In Source 11 are the last lines of the

poem .

Source 11: Poem: The New Colossus

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to be free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!


P o s t -w a r i m m i g r a t i o n t oo ther pa r t s o f the wor ld

Makingregional

and globalconnections

S t a t u e o f L i b e r t y

1 Ac co rd in g t o th e p oe m, wh a t typ e of p eo p le d o es

the Un ited States welcom e?

2 W h at m i gh t t h e p o et m ean w h e n sh e cal l s t h ese

people tem pest- tost ?

3 W h at m i gh t t h ose p eo p le be h o p in g f or i n t h e

Un ited States?

4 T h e l am p t h e p oet m en t i on s is t h e l am p h el d al o ft

by the Statue of L iberty. What could the lam p

sym bol ise to a r r iv ing im m igran ts?


W hen the Statue of Liberty w as erected, and

w hen Em m a Lazarus w rote her poem , thousands

of im m igrants w ere arriving in the U nited States

every year. M ost cam e across the Atlantic O cean

from Europe to the m ain east coast port of N ew

York. Before 1890, im m igration to the U nited

States had been fairly haphazard. There w ere no

uniform im m igration law s for the w hole country.

Individual states m ade decisions about w ho

could enter and settle. G enerally, there w ere

few restrictions on im m igration. M illions of

people, m ainly from Ireland, Britain and W estern

Europe, crossed the Atlantic to w hat they saw

as a land of opportunity. For those people, the

w ords of Em m a Lazaruss poem w ould have

rung true.

Betw een 1892 and 1954, over 12 m illion

im m igrants arrived on Ellis Island to begin their

new lives in the U nited States. D uring those

62 years, the controls on im m igration becam e

m ore form al. The U S C ongress (federal

parliam ent) passed a series of im m igration law s

that placed lim its on the num bers and types of

people w ho entered the U nited States.

AustralianPictureLibrary


13/16

After W orld W ar II, m illions of refugees

m igrated to the U nited States. They are a

rem inder of how w orld affairs can affect a

countrys im m igration program . M any of

the refugees w ho w ere adm itted to the

U nited States were fleeing from com m unist

regim es in countries such as East G erm any,

H ungary and Poland. In 1959, w hen a

com m unist governm ent led by Fidel Castro

deposed a corrupt governm ent in Cuba,

m any C ubans fled to the U nited States

(the U S state of Florida is less than

150 kilom etres from Cuba). W hen the

Vietnam W ar ended in 1975, thousands of

Vietnam ese w ho did not w ant to live in

a com m unist Vietnam becam e refugees

in the U nited States.Britain too has a dram atic history of

m igration. In the 1950s, people from the

m any nations of the British Com m onw ealth

had virtually unrestricted entry to Britain.

By 1962, alm ost half a m illion had m igrated

to Britain, m ainly from India, Pakistan and

the W est Indies. These people contributed

m uch to Britain, but they also m et

w idespread prejudice, discrim ination and

som etim es violence. In 1962, Britain

introduced the Com m onw ealth Im m igrantsAct, severely lim iting im m igration by

Com m onw ealth citizens.

Im agine you are work in g fo r the Depar tm ent o f Im m igra t ion in

one of the fo l lowin g coun tr ies: Canada, Br i ta in, New Zealand or

Argent in a. The governm ent is prou d of i ts m igrant her i tage and

wants to inc lude a h is to ry o f i t s post -war im m igra t ion (194 565 )

on a special website. You have been chosen to prepare them ater ia l . The Web pages m ust inclu de the fo l lowing elem ents:

a m a p o f t h e wo r l d , h i gh l i gh t i n g yo u r c h o sen c o u n t r y a n d th e

coun tr ies that provided i ts post-war m igrants

b r i ef d etai l s of t h e go ve rn m e n t s im m igra ti o n p o l i ci es b etween

1945 and 1965

stat i st i cs ( i n t h e fo rm o f a c h ar t ) t o sh o w th e p o in t o f o r i gi n

of the post-war m igrants

a 2 5 0 -wo rd sto r y o f a n ima gin a ry p o st -war m igra n t to t h e

coun tr y, descr ib in g their jou rn ey, who they travel led with,

why th ey chose their dest inat ion above other possible places

and the i r thou ghts about the i r n ew hom e.

a l i st o f the re fe rences you used in your research . ( I f you use

the In te rne t fo r th is task , t r y typ ing the words Im m igra t ion

histor y fo l lowed by the nam e of your chosen coun tr y.)

Further acticitiesFurther activitiesFurther activities


Reasons for letting people enter the Reasons for refusing entry to peopleUnited States

People who were parents w i th un m arr ied Physica l or m enta l defects that m ight prevent a

ch i ld r en u n der 21 ( 1924) per son ear n in g a l i vin g ( 1907)

Peo pl e aged 21 or ol der wi th sk i l ls i n agr i cu l tu r e ( 1 92 4) Per so n s w it h t ub er cu l osi s ( 1 90 7)

People whose sk i l l s were needed ur gent l y in the Chi ldr en not accom panied by parents

Uni ted States (1952)People who m ight take jobs away f rom US

Refu gees f leein g per secu tion an d su ffer in g ( 1953) wor k er s ( 1907)

People wh ose fam i l ies were al ready l iv ing in the People who could no t read and wri te ( 1917 )Uni ted States (1965)

People from m ost coun t r ies o f As ia (1917)

Al l sp ec i fi ed el em en ts a re p ro vid ed .

E ac h e lem e n t i s ac cu ra te an d i n fo rma t i ve , as sp ec i fi ed .

T h e sa mp le sto r y i s i n tere st i n g a n d wel l st r u c tu red .

There is evidence of product ive research using valuable sour ces.

The br ie f ing paper is we l l p resented and expressed.

Cr i ter ia for assessm ent

Source 12 lists som e of the criteria that the U S G overnm ent

used to decide w ho could enter the country as im m igrants.

Sour ce 12: US im m igr at io n p ol ic ies


14/16

There are m illions of refugees in the w orld

today. M any are people w ho have left their ow n

countries because they have been persecuted,

or because they fear they w ill be victim ised on

account of their race, religion or political beliefs.

They flee because they fear discrim ination,

im prisonm ent, physical harm or even death.

H ow ever, not all those seeking to becom e

refugees fear persecution or victim isation. Som e

seek refuge in another country because they sense

great danger for exam ple, if their country is

being w racked by w ar. O thers flee from fam ine

and starvation caused by floods, drought or othernatural disasters. Still others leave because they

see greater opportunities in another country.

Because of these different reasons, term s such as

political, religious, social, econom icand

environm entalcan be used to classify refugees.

There have been refugees throughout hum an

history. H ow ever, the refugee issue becam e a

m ajor global concern after W orld W ar II due to the

large num bers of displaced people. M any found

them selves far from their hom e countries, som e

of w hich w ere now occupied by the arm ies of

the Soviet U nion, w hich had helped defeat the

G erm ans. M any did not w ant to return hom e, as

they did not w ant to live under a com m unist

governm ent. As youve

learned already, m any

refugees displaced by W orld

W ar II and its afterm ath

found new lives in countries

such as Australia and the

U nited States.The plight of such

people caused the U nited

N ations to set up a special

organisation the O ffice of

the U nited N ations H igh

Com m issioner for Refugees

(U N H CR) on 14 D ecem ber

1951. The U N H CR states its

aim s as safeguarding the

rights and w ell-being of

refugeesand striving toensure that everyone can

exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe

refuge in another state, and to return hom e

voluntarily. Today, the U N H CR has over 5,000

full-tim e em ployees in over 120 countries around

the w orld.

These statistics are a rem inder that the refugee

problem has increased since W orld W ar II. In the

past 50 years or m ore, conflicts around the globe

have produced new groups of refugees. The

U N H CR claim ed that, at the end of 2000, there

w ere alm ost 20 m illion refugees in the w orld,

distributed as follow s:

Various conflicts have caused people to flee

their countries, to becom e refugees. H ere are

som e exam ples, using statistics from the year 2000.


Th e w orld s re fuge esMaking l ink swith t oday

Asia 8,820,700

Europe 4,855,400

Africa 4,173,500

N orth Am erica 1,086,800

Latin Am erica & Caribbean 765,400

O ceania 81,300

Total 19,783,100

Country Number of Causesrefugees

Australia 57,792 Conflict and/or persecution in Vietnam ,

Cam bodia, Chile, China, Afghanistan and

Iraq over the past 30 years or so.

India 170,941 Civil w ar and devastating floods in

Bangladesh since the 1970s.

Pakistan 2,001,468 O ppression by the Taliban regim e, w hich

cam e to pow er after a civil w ar in

Afghanistan.

U ganda 236,622 Civil w ar in Rwanda, in which tw o rival

ethnic groups the H utu and Tutsi

com m itted w idespread atrocities.

Algeria 169,656 The invasion of W estern Sahara by

M orocco.


15/16


N ot all refugees have the sam e status. The alm ost 20 m illion

refugees m entioned above include the follow ing.

Category Examples

People claim ing to be refugees, aw aiting About one m illion people w ho fled from warfare

processing by U N H C R. in Afghanistan crossed the border into Pakistan,

w here they live in tents in huge cam ps. Because

the situation in Afghanistan is still unstable, it is

not clear what w ill happen to these people.

People w ho have been granted refugee status by Som e people w ho fled from Vietnam after 1975,

a country other than their own. fearing the new com m unist governm ent, sailed to

Australia in boats. Australia granted these boat

peoplerefugee status.

People w ho are granted tem porary protection The Australian G overnm ent has granted tem porary

a step taken w hen there is a sudden influx of protection visas to m any boat people arrivingrefugees w ithout any prom ise of around the years 200001. The asylum seekers keep

perm anent asylum . that status w h ile their claim s for refugee status are

processed.

Internally displaced people, w ho have m oved to In the African nation of the Sudan, som e Sudanese

another part of their ow n country. have fled from the north of the country to the

south, because they w ere being persecuted by the

dom inant social and religious group in the north.

1 Ju d gi n g b y t h e d et ai l s i n th e

photograph, how h ard a journey

woul d th is have been?

2 U se i n fo r m a ti on p r o vi d ed e ar l ier

to explain wh y these people are

m ak ing th is t r ip .

3 Wh at wo r ds w ou l d yo u u se t o

describe these refugees? Think

about th eir expressions, body

language, posture. What feelingsdo you th ink they had when th is

photo w as taken?

4 W h at do yo u th i n k t h ese r ef u gees

woul d be carr y ing? I f you had to

leave your hom e hur r ied ly and

perm anent ly, what would you

choose to carry, if that was all

you could k eep?


A f g h a n r e f u g e e s t r e k k i n g t h r o u g h t h e K h y b e r P a s s o n t h e i r w a y t o P a k i s t a n .

Gett y Images


16/16

W hen people arrive in another country, it

is not alw ays easy to decide w hether they are

genuine refugees. In 200001, m any people

arrived in Australia on boats, seeking asylum .

They claim ed to be fleeing persecution, usually

in Iraq or Afghanistan. M any of these people w eregenuine refugees, w ho had braved great dangers

in m aking the hazardous trip to Australia.

H ow ever, the Australian G overnm ent suspected

that som e asylum seekers w ere actually econom ic

refugeespeople w ho w ere not in danger in

their ow n countries, but w ho w anted a better life

in Australia. The U N H CR does not recognise

econom ic refugeesas genuine refugees, and itdoes not include such people in its program s.


Im agin e that you h ave to decide whether the fo l lowin g

people should be granted asylum as refugees in

Australia:

a a m a n w h o i s f leei n g a ci vi l w ar i n w h i c h p eo p le of

his ethni c grou p are being attacked and often k i l l edby mem bers o f a dom inant e thn ic group

b a w om an w h o h as b een t h r eat en ed w it h p u n i sh m en t

unless she adopts a particular dress style that is

dictated by th e rel ig ion th at she belongs to

c two p are n t s wh o wan t t h ei r ch i l d re n to h ave b et t er

educat ional opportu ni t ies than are avai lable in their

o wn c ou n t r y

d a wo m a n wh o wro te a n e wsp a pe r a r ti c le c r i ti c al o f

her governm ent , and wh o faces im pr isonm ent fo r

doing th is.

To help you with your d ecisions, v isi t th e UNHCR

website at ht tp: / /www.unh cr.ch. Use the Protect ing

refugees FAQs l ink of the Protecting refugees section,

and any other l inks that look helpful . Art ic le 14 of

the UN Declarat ion of H um an Rights states that

Ever yone has the r ight to seek and to enj oy in oth er

coun tr ies asylum from persecut ion . However, the

UN em phasised that the Declarat ion did not apply to

people who were being prosecuted for ordi nar y

cr im in al of fences. You can r ead th e ent i r e UN

Declarat ion on the D iscover ing Dem ocracy websi te ath t tp : / /www.cur r icu lum .edu.au /dem ocracy/ddun i ts/

sources.

Further activityFurther activityFurther activity

S o u t h - E a s t A s i a n r e f u g e e s c o m i n g a s h o r e AUSTRAL

Post War Memoirs

Documents