pale northern Europeans proved insufficient, the
government encouraged, at first discreetly, immi-
gration from the Mediterranean countries – Italy,
Greece, Yugoslavia, later on Turkey and the
Lebanon – and simply braved the continued prej-
udice in the 1950s and 1960s of the majority of
the Australian people. Asians, except in small
numbers, were rigidly excluded, and some of
those who had settled were even deported.
With the changing generation came a change
in attitudes. Australia could not escape its
proximity to Asia. From the late 1960s onwards,
Asian immigration was liberalised. Refugees from
Vietnam were accepted in the early 1970s. A third
of all immigrants now came from Asia. An obses-
sion with assimilating all ‘new Australians’ to
Australian culture and the English language was
replaced by an acceptance of a multicultural
approach. Australia’s population would have
increased only slowly but for mass immigration
from Europe and Asia. By 1967 its population
had reached 12 million and by 1990, 17 million,
a rate of increase exceeded only by Israel. The
successful absorption of so many millions, the
weakening of bunkered racial attitudes and greater
tolerance are among the most important achieve-
ments of recent Australian history. Australia
enjoyed, in 2000, the second-highest gross
national product per head of population in Asia
(GNP per head in 2000 was $30,420), beaten
only by Japan with $38,160.
The expansion of the Australian economy was
made possible by the migration, which brought
young families and people of working age to man
the factories and the mines and to help build the
country’s infrastructure. The demand for housing,
furniture, cars and other goods is largely met by
Australia’s own manufacturing industry, which
together with mining and services absorbs most
of its labour, housed in big-city conurbations.
Australian society is obviously no longer pastoral,
but the rest of the world is not so aware that
Australia has fundamentally changed since the
Second World War. Nevertheless, its export trade
is still heavily dependent on primary products –
wool, wheat, minerals, coal, iron and steel – and
on their price fluctuations.
Wool no longer held first place as an export
earner during the last quarter of the twentieth
century; coal and iron ore brought in more
dollars. Australia’s prosperity was always depend-
ent on its external trade. Britain had traditionally
been the best market and supplier of capital and
manufactured goods, but long before it joined
the Common Market on 1 January 1973 the
trend for Australian exports to go to Asia, the US
and the wider world had been well established.
Exports to the US and Canada in 1967 began to
exceed those to Britain, while exports to the rest
of the European Community almost equalled
exports to Britain. But the most startling change
was exports to Japan, which exceeded in value
exports to any other country. A new trading
pattern was being established. Australia aggres-
sively sought new markets in the Pacific. Wheat
exports went to China, beef to the US. The
south-east Asian nations and Japan accounted for
more than 40 per cent of its exports.
The economic miracle in Japan, which began
its take-off in the 1960s, had a huge impact on
Australia. Initially short of coal, iron ore and min-
erals, its mining industry rapidly expanded; vast
new reserves of iron ore were discovered in the
Pilbara region of Western Australia. The indus-
trial development of south-east Asia added to the
demand. During the last quarter of the twentieth
century prosperous Western Europe has remained
an important market, but Australia’s most import-
ant trading partners are the nations of the Pacific
basin.
When Emperor Hirohito died in 1988 flags on
official buildings in Canberra flew at half-mast.
This token of respect symbolises just one facet of
the transformation of Australia’s relations with
the rest of the world. It is still an important mem-
ber of the British Commonwealth, the queen
of Britain was still queen of Australia in 1992.
Australia owes its constitution and legal system
to Britain, as also its commitment to democracy.
Test matches between the two countries are fol-
lowed avidly by cricket enthusiasts throughout the
Commonwealth. Thousands of Australians visit
London. Family ties persist. But Australia’s future
lies in the Pacific. Fear of Japan has been replaced
by economic interdependence. Japanese invest-