Summary

Leaflet from Minister of Immigration, Athol Townley, to his fellow Australians. The letter explains the 'Bring out a Briton' campaign which was launched in 1957 in an attempt to bolster the proportion of British migrants entering Australia. This campaign highlighted the questions and concerns that many Australians had about the high number of non-British immigrants who arrived in Australia following World War Two, their fears about the future direction of Australia, and debate about Australia's role in the new Cold War world. It is part of a collection of migration material collected by Margaret Wood an officer in the Department of Immigration from 1951-1960.

Margaret first worked in the Department of Alien Assimilation which focused on migrants post arrival, before moving to the Assisted Division which handled the reception of assisted European migrants arriving in Melbourne. Her final position was working for the General Assisted Passage Scheme, assisting migrants from the US, Scandinavia and Switzerland who came individually on general ships as opposed to migrant ships. She recalls her time with the Department with great pleasure. She was a young single woman and had just finished an Arts degree at Melbourne University. When she applied to the Public Service, she was placed with the Department of Immigration, as she spoke German. She left when she married in 1961 as per the policy at that time.

Physical Description

A5 size leaflet of four pages. The front page has a cover letter from Athol Townley, Minister for Immigration, urging Australians to support the scheme.

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