The Great Depression of the 1930s had hit Australia hard, and World War II followed hot on its heels. Although the war came with a high casualty count and the constant threat of invasion from Japan, it also boosted Australian industry, increasing GDP massively – by the end of 1943 it was triple what it had been in 1918. With men fighting on both the Kokoda Trail and in theatres of war further from home, more women entered the workforce, but even they weren’t enough to keep production levels high. By the time the war ended, with the loss of more than 30,000 men and a further 65,000 injured, Australia found itself, for the first time in its unified history, in need of workers from outside.
Australia had come together in the years immediately preceding federation in 1901 to close ranks against unwanted economic migrants, but now it found itself actively recruiting both skilled specialists and manual workers for its booming manufacturingor those from families claiming welfare from their local authorities, were sent to Australia, ostensibly to be adopted and live a new life, but in reality to serve as cheap labour. The British and Australian governments have since apologised to the surviving migrant children and their descendants for the physical and emotional suffering that they endured through this programme.
