Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre
The Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre was a camp set up for receiving and training migrants to Australia during the post World War II immigration boom. The camp was set on 130 hectares near Wodonga at the locality of Bonegilla in north east Victoria, between the Hume Dam and the city of Wodonga. The site was a former World War II Australian Army base, and is adjacent to the current Latchford Barracks. Before being requisitioned by the army, the site was originally a section of large pastoral land. The camp opened in 1947 and operated until 1971, over which period it received over 300,000 migrants. It is estimated that over 1.5 million Australians are descended from migrants who spent time at Bonegilla. Eric Bana's parents were both processed through Bonegilla. The grandfather of actor and screenwriter Jason Agius stayed at the camp in 1952. Other former residents include Karl Kruszelnicki, Franca Arena, Arvi Parbo, Les Murray, Susan Duncan, Pi O and Raimond Gaita.
A sculpture commemorating the migrants who spent time at the Bonegilla camp. Some of Block 19 can be seen in the background.
Block 4 of the camp while operational in 1954
Post-war immigration to Australia
Post-war immigration to Australia deals with migration to Australia in the decades immediately following World War II, and in particular refers to the predominantly European wave of immigration which occurred between 1945 and the end of the White Australia policy in 1973. In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (1945–1949), established the federal Department of Immigration to administer 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.
Arthur Calwell with the Kalnins family – the 50,000th New Australian – August 1949
In 1954, 50,000 Dutch migrants arrived
British migrants on the deck of the Georgic, Australia, 1949
Australian Government poster displayed between 1949 and 1951 in reception rooms and dining halls at various migrant reception centres in Australia (image courtesy of the NAA)