Changing Migration in Australia Since 1945

Essay by JinsueHigh School, 10th gradeA, April 2008

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Australia's migration influx after World War II, in 1945, saw the beginning of yet another immense cultural shift. Immediately after the war ended the Australian government saw our population as being too small to defend itself and began to heavily encourage Australian migration from Europe.

Because of the oppression that many Jewish people wished to escape from Germany and other neighboring countries, many began to flock to Australia. With government assistance in the form of the Assisted Migration Scheme, which allowed cheap passage to those who were healthy, non criminal Europeans, Australia was an ideal location to migrate too and move on from a war torn past.

People from other European countries like Italy, Germany and Yugoslavia also found Australia a perfect place to move to after the war. All of the new migrates could get decent work because of rising prosperity of our young nation and with the massive boom in population the requirements for more housing, transport and public services created many new jobs which could be seen opening up everywhere.

During the decade after WWII the White Australia Policy began to slacken and was eventually brought down in 1972. This and the changing cultural influences arriving in Australia caused our once conservative views to be alleviated and replaced with a more mixed identity.

After the White Australia policy was abolished by the Prime Minister of the time, Gough Whitlam, many Asian migrates began to move to Australia including the Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. This sparked off the idea of a 'multicultural' society, where all cultures are embraced as making up a portion of the Australian way of life.

Other less global events have also helped in the shaping of Australia's migration patterns throughout the years; from the fighting in Indonesia during the 1970's, too the...