UK Compared with Australia

Size compared in above illustration
Length of Australian coastline:   22,292 miles
Length of UK coastline:   7,723 miles

Population of Australia:  23.1 million (2013)
Population of UK:  64.1 million (2013)

For a nation largely comprised of “boat people”, asylum has generated the most debate, and at times hysteria, of all immigration matters in Australia.

Is this due to what multiculturalism academic Ghassan Hage calls the “sensitivity of thieves”, linking the invasion and theft of Australian land from its traditional owners by white settlers 200 years ago with current attitudes to asylum?

Or do attitudes to asylum reflect a genuine concern for Australia as a sovereign nation?

The setting of tight restrictions on immigration policy has been Australian politics since federation. One of the first acts of federal parliament in 1901 was the Immigration Restriction Act that established a dictation or language test for potential migrants in any European language.

In the 1950's there was an assisted passage scheme to Australia which was then known as the £10 passage.  Those with skills who could benefit Australia were welcomed by the Australian authorities.

Many from the Neath Port Talbot area took advantage of the cheap package for a life in what was then called the new world.

Do you know anyone who went there?  Write in and tell us how they got on and how they settled down.