Summary

Postcard promoting Australian industries, probably produced by the Commonwealth Immigration Office which produced a number of postcards promoting immigration to Australia, circa 1910. These cards generally portray rural activity, and feature positive propaganda style messages to entice intending migrants. The rural subject matter highlights the strong push for British rural workers and settlers in the years leading up to World War I. This particular postcard features a map of Australia with key agricultural, mining and manufacturing towns identified. There is an insert with a map of Great Britain for size comparison and there are land size and production statistics.

Physical Description

Postcard featuring colour illustration of a map of Australia, including Papua in top right hand corner. Each state is depicted in a different colour and key agricultural, mining and manufacturing towns have been identified on the map. There is an insert with a map of Great Britain for size comparison. There are land size and production statistics.

Significance

This postcard offers important insights into Australian migration policies and promotional activities in the years prior to World War I, a period when enticing British agricultural settlement was an important government strategy, along with attracting farm and domestic workers. Attracting British migrants to Australia to settle on the land was a key priority for Australian immigration schemes in the early decades of the twentieth century, particularly with the launch of the Empire Settlement Scheme in 1922, which offered assistance and land packages to immigrants from the United Kingdom with varying degrees of success.

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