Ten Pound Poms

The Assisted Passage Migration Scheme was created in 1945 by the Chifley Government and its first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, as part of the "Populate or Perish" policy. It was intended to substantially increase the population of Australia and to supply workers for the country's booming industries. In return for subsidising the cost of travelling to Australia—adult migrants were charged only ten pounds sterling for the fare (hence the name; in 1945 pounds, equivalent to £435 in 2019), and migrant scheme children travelled free of charge—the Government promised employment prospects, affordable housing and a generally more optimistic lifestyle. Upon arrival, migrants were placed in basic migration hostels and the expected job opportunities were not always readily available.[3] It was a follow-on to the unofficial Big Brother Movement and attracted over one million migrants from the British Isles between 1945 and 1972, representing the last substantial scheme for preferential migration from the British Isles to Australia.[4] In 1957, more migrants were encouraged to travel following a campaign called "Bring out a Briton". Coming to an end in 1982,[5] the scheme reached its peak in 1969; during this year over 80,000 migrants took advantage of the scheme.[6] The cost to migrants of the assisted passage was increased to £75 in 1973 (equivalent to £914 in 2019).[3]

While the term "Ten Pound Pom" is in common use, the scheme was not limited to migrants from the United Kingdom. People born in the Irish Free State or in the southern counties of Ireland prior to the establishment of the Republic of Ireland in 1949 were also classified as British subjects.[7] In fact most British subjects were eligible and, at the time, that included not only those from the British Isles but also residents of British colonies such as Malta and Cyprus. Australia also operated schemes to assist selected migrants from other countries, notably the Netherlands (1951), Italy (1951), Greece (1952), West Germany (1952) and Turkey (1967).[8]

Assisted migrants were generally obliged to remain in Australia for two years after arrival, or alternatively refund the cost of their assisted passage. If they chose to travel back to Britain, the cost of the journey was at least £120 (in 1945 pounds, equivalent to £5,217 in 2019), a large sum in those days and one that most could not afford.[5] It was also possible for many British people to migrate to Australia on a non-assisted basis before the early 1970s, although most travelled as Ten Pounders. This was part of the wider White Australia policy. An estimated quarter of those British migrants returned to the UK within the qualifying period, however, half of these—the so-called "Boomerang Poms"—returned to Australia.[5]

Before 1 December 1973, migrants to Australia from Commonwealth countries were eligible to apply for Australian citizenship after one year's residence in Australia. In 1973 the residence requirement was extended to three years, then reduced to two years in November 1984. However, relatively few British migrants—compared to other post-war arrivals, such as Italians, Greeks and Turks—took up Australian citizenship. Consequently, many may have lost their Australian residency status later on, usually through leaving Australia.

The Government of New Zealand initiated a similar immigration scheme in July 1947.[9] The first immigrants arrived on the RMS Rangitata later that year.[10] The scheme was administered by the Department of Labour under the guidance of Bert Bockett, and was expanded to include the Netherlands in 1950.[9][11] The Dutch immigration scheme finished in 1963, with just over 6,000 immigrants to New Zealand;[12] with Bockett receiving the Olivier van Noort medallion from the Dutch government in the following year.[9] The British immigration scheme lasted until 1971, with 76,673 immigrants. From 1957 to 1971, the scheme applied to further European countries, with a total of 1,442 immigrants.[9]

Prime Minister Julia Gillard migrated with her family from Barry, Glamorgan, Wales in 1966.[13] Her parents hoped the warmer climate would help cure her lung infection.

Another Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, migrated in 1960 under the scheme, although his father had already lived in Australia after arriving at the beginning of the Second World War on a Blue Funnel Liner, and his mother was an Australian expatriate living in Britain at the time of his birth.[14]

England fast bowlers Harold Larwood (in 1950)[15] and Frank Tyson (in 1960) also took advantage of the scheme when they retired from cricket.

The Bee Gees (Gibb brothers) spent their first few years in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester, England, then moved in the late 1950s to Redcliffe in Queensland, where they began their musical careers.[16]

The five original members of the Easybeats migrated independently and formed their band after arriving in Sydney. Lead singer Stevie Wright migrated from Leeds, England. Harry Vanda migrated from the Hague, Netherlands, and George Young migrated from Glasgow, Scotland, to become the twin guitars and later the songwriting team that took the Easybeats to the world with "Friday on My Mind". George's younger brothers Malcolm Young and Angus Young formed the twin guitars of AC/DC, with another immigrated Scotsman Bon Scott who, after his death, was replaced by UK transplant Brian Johnson (not an assisted passage participant). Malcolm (after being diagnosed with a severe memory loss disorder) was replaced by nephew Stevie Young, who had travelled on the same flight to Australia in 1963 as his uncles George, Malcolm and Angus.

Grace McNeil (née Greenwood) and Christopher John Jackman, a Cambridge-trained accountant, migrated to Australia in 1967 where their son, Hugh Jackman, was born in Sydney, New South Wales.

Businessman Alan Bond moved to Australia with his family in 1950.

Rugby League Player and actor Ian Roberts moved to Sydney with his family in 1967. According to Roberts, he "was brought up in an English household and Australia existed outside the front door.” [17]

Actor Nicholas Hope, best known for his role in the 1994 film Bad Boy Bubby, was born in Manchester on Christmas Day 1958 and migrated to Whyalla shortly after.

• The Feldons' song "Win One Time" off their 2012 album Goody Hallett and Other Stories refers to Ten Pound Poms, as the writer's father-in-law was in fact one
• White Australia Policy
• The book "My Mother Said...A Liverpool-Irish Memoir" has some further information in its back few pages.

A. James Hammerton and Alistair Thomson, Ten pound Poms: Australia's invisible migrants, Manchester University Press, Manchester and New York, 2005.

• New Zealand Ten Pound Pom interviewed by Radio New Zealand (2014)