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The British colony of New South Wales was established in 1788 as a penal colony.
The first settlement, at Sydney, consisted of about 850 convicts and their Marine guards and officers, led by Governor Arthur Phillip. They arrived at Botany Bay in the "First Fleet" of 9 transport ships accompanied by 2 small warships, in January, 1788. Finding the area unsuitable for settlement, they actually settled at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson (or Sydney Harbour as it is better known) on January 26. -
The number of Chinese people that came to Australia in the 1800's Gold Rush is open to speculation. It is believed about 7000 Chinese worked in the Araluen gold fields in Southern NSW.
Australia first became multi-cultural during the gold rush period with mass international immigration to Australia. The lure of gold however often took a personal toll on individuals of all persuasions, particularly those who did not speak English.
The Chinese were known for being industrious on the Gold Fields. -
The White Australia Policy describes Australia's previous approach to immigration which favoured applicants from certain countries.
The first Act of Parliament passed after Federation was the Immigration Restriction Act (1901), better known as the “White Australia Policy”. The intention was to promote a homogenous population similar to that in Britain. Under “White Australia” only Europeans, and then mainly northern Europeans, could immigrate to Australia. -
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The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of Qld, NSW, VIC,TAS,SA and WA formed one nation. They kept the systems of government that they had developed as separate colonies, but they also agreed to have a federal government that was responsible for matters concerning the whole nation. When the Constitution of Australia came into force, on 1 January, the colonies collectively became the states of Australia.
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In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949, established the Federal Department of Immigration and thereby launched a large scale immigration program. Chifley commissioned a report on the subject which found that Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development and it recommended a 1% annual increase in population through increased immigration.
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The Adult Migrant Education Scheme is established following the arrival of the first wave of non-English speaking migrants after World War II.
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In 1949 many migrants with engineering or construction skills and experience in working alpine conditions were targeted for the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. Dams, power stations and tunnels were built so that the water from the Snowy River could be used to provide power and irrigation.
Most migrant workers on the Scheme arrived under assisted migration schemes. -
The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (commonly known as the Refugee Convention) is the primary international legal document relating to refugee protection. It defines who is a refugee and outlines the rights of refugees and the legal obligations of states towards refugees and asylum seekers.
The United Nations 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was ratified by Australia in January 1954. Australia is the sixth nation to ratify the treaty. -
In 1976 the first boat arrived in Australia carrying refugees who had by-passed formal immigration procedures. Desperate to find a new home, they were accepted as immigrants on humanitarian grounds. Within three years a further 53 refugee boats had arrived.
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The majority of Vietnamese came to Australia after the Communist government took over their homeland at the end of the Vietnam War. Those already in Australia were offered permanent residence, and refugees began to be admitted through resettlement camps based in South East Asia. The camps filled as Vietnam expelled ethnic Chinese, Catholics and others fled terrible suffering and privation. Many came in old boats, suffered from disease and starvation and were attacked by pirates.
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Large numbers of Cambodians fled their homelands under the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. After 1978, the guerrilla war conducted by the ousted Khmer Rouge resulted in increasing Cambodian emigration to Australia.
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Prime Minister Bob Hawke made a very emotional speech after the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989. He granted permanent residency to many Chinese students in Australia.
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The UN Human Rights Committee finds that Australia has breached the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by indefinitely detaining refugees who have failed security assessments. It asserts that Australia has violated Articles 7 and 9 of the Convention through detaining refugees arbitrarily, failing to provide an effective judicial remedy and subjecting detainees to conditions of detention which are “cumulatively inflicting serious psychological harm upon them”.
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Operation Sovereign Borders, a military-led border security operation designed to prevent boats carrying asylum seekers from arriving in Australia, commences.
