Bonegilla: A Hinterland for Post-War Migrants in Australia

Running Head: HISTORY ESSAY
HISTORY ESSAY
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1HISTORY ESSAY
After the end of the Second World War destruction and devastation was seemed to be
malice in the European continent. Thousands and million people lost their lands and their
families during the war. As a result of that they were seeking for jobs and a permanent place to
live. In this context, Australia played an important part by launching a bold mass immigration
program in the aftermath of the war. Bonegilla was considered to be the most popular region of
Australia that took in half of the Displaced Persons arrived before 1953. The government
statistics showed that near about 3, 09, 000 post-war refugees and migrants got accommodation
in Bonegilla1. In other words, Bonegilla became a hinterland for the post-war migrants where
one in the eight of the 2.5 million Europeans was supposed to live in Bonegilla from 1947 to
19712. Besides this, at Bonegilla, there was a huge under used army camp located near the Hume
Dam on the Murray River which was used for accommodation for the Displaced Persons at first.
Therefore, as one of the earliest settlements for the Displaced Persons, Bonegilla has unarguably
an important role in the history of migration in Australia.
The local supports and entrepreneurships were also provided an impetus for making
Bonegilla a favourable spot for accommodation of the Displaced Persons who suffered in the
Second World War. In the form of non-military establishment the Australian government always
wanted to incorporate the local non government organisations and the local people in order ease
the process of encampment. In this regards, the name of such local ownership in Albury and
Wadonga are very relevant. Those private ownerships were keen to accept the migration
settlements as at that time in Australia there was shortage of good labourers. The coming of the
1 Pennay, B. 2017. Receiving Europe's Displaced. [online] Issuu. Available at:
https://issuu.com/wodongacouncil/docs/receiving_europe_s_displaced_web [Accessed 8 Jun. 2018].
2 Alexandra Dellios. 2014 Sharing Bonegilla Stories, Life Writing, 11:4, 493-
498, DOI: 10.1080/14484528.2014.954980.

2HISTORY ESSAY
Displaced Person ushered a glimpse of light among the Australian entrepreneurs that it would be
a stimuli for the economic and political interests of the country. Alburry’s Boarder Morning Mail
was played a pivotal role in energising the inhabitants the Australian mass to accept the
undergoing reception of the Second World War migrant process3. It can be argued that the
private ownerships became succeeded to some extent in creating a public sensation about the
process. As a matter of fact, the private entrepreneurs were the most beneficial party in this
context. For an instance, the Northern Victorian Fruit Growers Association was very pleased
with the Baltic migrants in that region who were hard working and cleaned in habits.
In this regards, it is important to get a clear picture of the role of the Australian
government and its policies in order to make the migrant program a success. Taking advantage of
the immigration issues the Australian government in 1947 signed an agreement with the
International Refugee Organisation (IRO) to take some of the displaced people who were
ravaged by the impact of the Second World War. In course of the process, by 1951 the
Australian government provided shelter to 1,70,000 European Displaced Person4. In fact,
Bonegilla was considered to be the hinterland of this immigration process. However, in its initial
phase the Australian government put more emphasis on the employable young Europeans who
could fulfil the shortage of labourers in the country. As a result of that the government policies
were also followed the same line and recruited more Displaced Persons from the Baltic regions
including Poles, Ukrainians, Slovenians, Hungarians and White Russians5. There was no place
3 Dellios, A. (2017). Histories of Controversy: Bonegilla Migrant Centre. Melbourne: Melbourne University
Publishing.
4 Jupp, J. (2001). The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, Its People and Their Origins. Cambridge
University Press.
5 Pennay, B. 2017. Receiving Europe's Displaced. [online] Issuu. Available at:
https://issuu.com/wodongacouncil/docs/receiving_europe_s_displaced_web [Accessed 8 Jun. 2018].