Australia is often touted as one of the 'most successful multicultural countries on the planet' - but are we really? While today more than half of all Australians have a parent born overseas, Australia has a weird and troubled immigration history that dates back to The White Australia Policy and beyond. Host Janak Rogers takes a look at key moments in Australia’s migration story and unpacks the nation's thorny relationship with race.
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Australia is often touted as one of the 'most successful multicultural countries on the planet' - but are we really? While today more than half of all Australians have a parent born overseas, Australia has a weird and troubled immigration history that dates back to The White Australia Policy and beyond. Host Janak Rogers takes a look at key moments in Australia’s migration story and unpacks the nation's thorny relationship with race.
By the 1970s, things are changing rapidly. Australia finally abandons the official White Australia policy, and start welcome in significant numbers of people from Asia. In episode 5 of Australia Fair, host Janak Rogers delves into the complex journey of Vietnamese refugees and their impact on Australian society. In the tumultuous days of April 1975, as Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces, countless Vietnamese fled. The arrival of the first Vietnamese boat people in Australia in 1976 marked the beginning of a significant shift in the nation’s demographic and cultural landscape. Despite the initially warm reception, the growing Vietnamese community soon faced challenges and discrimination. Figures like Pauline Hanson built a powerful political party initially by attacking Asian immigration, and by the 80s communities in Cabramatta became a by-word for drug and gang violence. Hear from Dai Le, the first person with a Vietnamese refugee background to be elected to Federal parliament, as well as lawyer and emerging leader Tu Le, and Lam Tac Tam, one of the first Vietnamese refugees to ever arrive in Australia.
Australia Fair
Australia is often touted as one of the 'most successful multicultural countries on the planet' - but are we really? While today more than half of all Australians have a parent born overseas, Australia has a weird and troubled immigration history that dates back to The White Australia Policy and beyond. Host Janak Rogers takes a look at key moments in Australia’s migration story and unpacks the nation's thorny relationship with race.
