Australian Immigration By lock_eddy50 Jan 26, 1788 White settlement Period: Jan 26, 1788 to Aug 24, 2010 The times Jan 1, 1840 Irish immigrants Apr 23, 1851 Gold Rush Jan 1, 1947 Immigration to australia becomes quite popular for a while Jan 1, 1950 From here on war torn countrys start migrating to australia much more Jan 1, 1975 The fall of Saigon in Vietnam war causes heaps of migration to the west including Australia Jan 1, 1994 Illegal immagration becomes quite poular to Australia Feb 13, 2008 Sorry Day- K Rudd Jan 1, 2010 Government fed up with boat people Aug 24, 2010 Now Sep 1, 2010 Boat people escape a detention centre