RESTRICTIONS ON ALIENS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25139, 21 March 1947, Page 7

RESTRICTIONS ON ALIENS

BILL BEFORE FEDERAL PARLIAMENT (Ree. 7 p.m.) CANBERRA, March 20. The Minister of Immigration (Mr A. A. Calwell) has introduced in the . House of Representatives a bill requiring aliens to register and ing them from changing their surnames. It provides a penalty of £5O or three months’ imprisonment for any breach of the Aliens Registration Act. Mr Calwell said that aliens must not try to cloak their nationality under new surnames.

The bill, which replaces the Alien Control Regulations introduced during the war, omits many restrictions contained in the regulations. Aliens must notify the Government of changes of address or employment, and they must produce a registration certificate on demand by dn Immigration Department officer. Mr Calwell said that the bill would provide for an analysis of Australia’s alien population so that the Government could implement its immigration policy on scientific lines. The Government must have full informal ton on the growth of the foreign population, the industrial groups into which aliens fall, the prevention of undesirable concentrations in industries or localities, the imposition of a quota system if necessary the absorption of aliens into the Australian community, and alien aid for industrial expansion.