![]() The series also looks at First Nations experiences. ![]() The series is also very interested in examining the experiences of First Nations Peoples, which it does through war veteran Ron Mahoney (Rob Collins) and his community at an old mission station near the hostel. Ten Pound Poms is a pacy, character-driven story grounded in historical research. Instead they make only brief appearances, and even then, often as caricatures, such as the lazy and overly-emotional Italian, Maria (Sarah Furnari). Their stories could have given us a much richer picture of hostel life. These migrants were not only subject to the same onerous visa conditions and racist attitudes, but denied the privileges accorded the British: the right to vote, get an Australian passport, and receive social security benefits.īut in the series, these non-British migrants are used only as a backdrop. The challenges faced by British migrants were shared by those from many other countries. After this, up to 25% chose to return home. ![]() Under the scheme, migrants were obligated to stay and work in Australia for at least two years to repay their subsidised travel. His first job is digging ditches for a gas pipeline.Īt work, he is subject to name-calling, ostracism and the threat of violence. Terry, a qualified builder, must take any work he is offered as long as no Australians want it. Instead of new houses and huge gardens, the migrants are sent to a hostel camp. But those who had trouble finding work stayed for many months, if not years. Most assisted migrants who arrived by ship ended up in these camps, where they could stay while they looked for work and resettled. Their dream of “white washed houses and huge gardens” dissipates as they take their first look at the “squalor” of the Nissen huts, outdoor communal showers and drop toilets. But once they arrive in Australia, their dream of a new life is dealt a blow.Īs assisted migrants, they are sent straight to a migrant hostel camp, where they will live while earning enough to pay their own way. The changing face of Australian immigrationĪustralia offered the Roberts family an opportunity to “work hard, prosper” and own their own home. Australia was still a British country and a proud member of the British Empire, with a preference for British migrants. The second world war had demonstrated Australia’s vulnerability to foreign invasion, and migrants were needed to fuel its burgeoning post-war industrial development and infrastructure projects.īut until the 1960s, the White Australia Policy was very much in place. Most of the 1.5 million Britons who came to Australia until 1981 were part of such a scheme.Īustralia’s post-war migration program was driven by the imperative to “populate or perish”. It was just one of Australia’s assisted passage schemes of the post-war era. The “Ten Pound Pom” scheme was launched in 1945 and continued into the early 1970s. Migration to Australia offers the Roberts family the promise of a fresh start, “a bright future” in a “modern” country with abundant fresh food, and a brand-new whitewashed house and family car.
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