-
1901 Immigration Restriction Act was aimed at excluding non-white, and did so by requiring migrants to pass a dictation test which could be set in any language chosen by a custom officer.
-
In 1946s Australia needed to increase it's population in order to defend the country, the concept of "populate or perish". Skill shortages were also a key issue during this peried of immigration, and attracting skilled workers was an important immigration goal.
-
After the Second World War the Australian government committed to a sustained immigration program. The purpose of this ambitious program was to meet labour shortages, protect Australia from external threat and create prosperity. As a result, from 1945 to 1975 Australia's population almost doubled from 7½ million to 13 million. About 3 million migrants and refugees arrived.
-
Australian immigration policy became more open to non-European migration from around the mid 1960s onwards, but non-European migrants did not really start to arrive in large numbers until the early 1970s.
-
In 1949 immigration Minister Harold Holt allowed 800 non-European refugees to remain in Australia and Japanese war brides to enter Australia.In 1970 the White Australian policy demolished.
