Australia's migration influx after World War II, in 1945, saw the beginning of yet another immense cultural shift. Immediately after the war ended the Australian government saw our population as being too small to defend itself and began to heavily encourage Australian migration from Europe.Because of the oppression that many Jewish people wished to escape from Germany and other neighboring countries, many began to flock to Australia. With government assistance in the form of the Assisted Migration Scheme, which allowed cheap passage to those who were healthy, non criminal Europeans, Australia was an ideal location to migrate too and m ...view middle of the document...
During the decade after WWII the White Australia Policy began to slacken and was eventually brought down in 1972. This and the changing cultural influences arriving in Australia caused our once conservative views to be alleviated and replaced with a more mixed identity.After the White Australia policy was abolished by the Prime Minister of the time, Gough Whitlam, many Asian migrates began to move to Australia including the Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Chinese. This sparked off the idea of a 'multicultural' society, where all cultures are embraced as making up a portion of the Australian way of life.Other less global events have also helped in the shaping of Australia's migration patterns throughout the years; from the fighting in Indonesia during the 1970's, too the Tiananmen Square Massacre in China 1989. These two acts pushed many Indonesians and Chinese into Australia who opened its arms mainly to afflicted civilians.All of these rapid rises and slumps from different migrants from around the world, have made Australia unique in many ways; from the many ethnic and Asian names found in local businesses and schools in modern times, to our extensive range of cultural, ethnic cuisine and restaurants.Bibliography: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/INTGUIDE/SP/Skilled_migration.htm - Skill Mgration to Australiahttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PCG/is_2002_Sept/ai_105657375 - Immigration Issues in Australiahttp://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/RN/2004-05/05rn48.htm - Australia's Migration Program
