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Listed under:  Science  >  Environmental management  >  Populations (Society)  >  Migration
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Immigration: fill it or lose it, 1992

This video clip looks at the political forces and propaganda campaigns that tried to fill Australia with 'pure white' immigrants. 'Immigration: fill it or lose it' is an excerpt from the documentary 'Admission impossible' (54 min), produced in 1992. For much of the 20th century, successive Australian governments pursued ...

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Pocket Compass, Ep 5: An immigration nation

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull once described Australia as an 'immigration nation'. What do you think he meant by that? Do you agree? |Watch four very different people speak about their experiences as first- and second-generation migrants. What were some reasons they or their parents migrated to Australia?

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Why Australia wanted a White Australia policy

The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901 was designed to limit non-British immigration to Australia. It came to be known as the White Australia policy. In some quarters, people of non-British (and especially non-European) heritage were regarded as being inferior, greedy or unable to fit in with dominant Australian society. ...

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ABC News: Australians as global citizens

How is Australia connected globally? Watch as presenter Jeremy Fernandez uses a range of data sources to describe Australia's position in the world. From the economy to immigration, this clip shows some of the ways Australia currently connects with the world.

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Viking women

This resource is about the role of women in the Viking world. It includes text and some images. The resource is organised under six topic headings: Female Vikings?; Viking women in England; Scandinavian immigration; Daily life; Women of influence; and Find out more. The images are interposed in the text.

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Voting in Australia

The representatives elected to federal Parliament make decisions that affect many aspects of Australian life including tax, marriage, the environment, trade and immigration. This 28 page PDF document explains the history of Australia’s electoral system and how it works, Australia’s system of government and the role citizens ...

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Weekend Magazine Chinese Australian community 1972 video

What was life like for people of Chinese origin living in Australia in 1972? This ABC Weekend Magazine program reports on life in Melbourne's Chinese community and examines how people have adopted the 'Australian way of life' while attempting to maintain aspects of their own rich cultural heritage.

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Somewhere to Live: Suburban sprawl reaches Doncaster East, 1960s

In the 1950s and 60s, suburbs like Doncaster East arose to meet the changing needs of Australian citizens and the government. A 'baby boom' and increased immigration contributed to the expansion of Australian cities as more and more people sought to create their own 'Australian Dream' on a quarter-acre suburban block. Architect ...

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Reflections on ending the White Australia policy

Why was the abolition of the White Australia policy so important? Steps taken by the Whitlam Labor government in 1973 signalled the end of the legislation behind the policy. Find out which event first led to the new multiracial policy being put into practice. In this clip, you will hear from former prime ministers and ministers ...

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Immigrant's trunk

This is a small (67 cm x 70 cm x 50 cm) lacquered wooden trunk, which has a ripped hessian cloth cover bound with rope. The words 'WONG TOW' are written on the lid. These refer to the owner of the trunk, Wong Tow of Sunwai village, near Canton in China, who brought this trunk to New Zealand when he came in about 1900. The ...

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Cabin trunk

This is a wooden cabin trunk, painted dark green. It has a hinged lid, two small internal drawers, two iron carrying handles, an original steel lock and key, and modern casters. Made around 1850, it was used soon after by an immigrant to New Zealand.

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The Arrival: Unit of work

This unit of work has been written to support the textless graphic novel The Arrival. The book draws its inspiration from tales of migrants in past and recent times. Find themes related to the Australian landscape, colonisation, connection to place, fear, identity, isolation, marginalisation and the migrant experience. ...

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Chinese market gardener, c1880s

This is a black-and-white photograph showing A H Wong, a Chinese market gardener in Brisbane, watering a bed of what appear to be vigorous cabbages or cauliflowers. He uses a traditional Chinese method of watering - a shoulder yoke or pole with a large watering can at each end. He wears protection from the sun - a hat and ...

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Anti-Chinese cover on Queensland Figaro and Punch, 1888

This cartoon appeared on the cover of the weekly Queensland Figaro and Punch on 14 July 1888 and depicts a stereotypical image of a grotesque Chinese man with gaping mouth, protruding teeth and a pug nose, about to be kicked by a tall strapping Australian bushman. The cartoon is titled 'THAT PEKIN EDICT' and has two captions. ...

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Chinese farm workers planting cane, Cairns, 1890s

This is a black-and-white 1890s photograph portraying about 12 men, presumed to be Chinese as some wear conical hats, manually laying sugar-cane cuttings, or setts, at regular intervals in long furrows in a large paddock on Hambledon Sugar Plantation near Cairns in Queensland. In the background are a mounted overseer supervising ...

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Chinese fruit and vegetable hawker, Brisbane

This black-and-white photograph shows a Chinese fruit and vegetable seller, or hawker, known as 'Vegetable John' according to the accompanying rather derogatory description of the time, posing at the steps of a suburban house. He is wearing Western-style clothes and is resting his shoulder pole and two very large open-weave ...

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The Snowy Mountains Scheme

How did the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme come to be Australia's greatest economic achievement in the decades following World War II? In this clip, discover what Australia hoped to accomplish through the scheme, and some of the sacrifices that were made for it. Also learn what life was like for migrants from war-devastated ...

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Chinese gold digger preparing for work, c1860s

This is a black-and-white photograph of a Chinese goldminer posed in front of a wall on a central or north Queensland gold field. He wears clean work attire of a conical hat, long-sleeved shirt and Western-style trousers and boots, and carries mining equipment on a shoulder yoke. The equipment includes buckets, spade and ...

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The Holy Triad Temple at Breakfast Creek, 1886

This black-and-white photograph of the Holy Triad Temple (San Xung Kung) at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane shows the exterior of a small elaborately decorated and well-maintained Chinese temple sometimes known as a joss house. The decorative triple roof sits on a rectangular rendered brick structure, which is adorned with ...

Interactive

Discovering democracy: the people make a nation

Interact with a slideshow of images and text to explore the controversies that the colonies needed to deal with before they could agree on a federated Australia. Investigate the library to find out more about the different views about trade, immigration, transport, defence and rivers. Examine the rivalries among the colonies ...