14,000 MIGRANTS: OCTOBER FIGURES FOR AUSTRALIA

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 October 1948, Page 5

14,000 MIGRANTS: OCTOBER FIGURES FOR AUSTRALIA

CANBERRA, October 14

Australia will receive the record number of 14,000 permanent new settlers this month, according to the Minister of Immigration (Mr A A. Calwell).

They are coming to Australia in 17 ships. Four ships are exclusively for United Kingdom migrants, and six are under charter to the International Reugee Organisation. The total number includes more than 7500 British migrants.

The biggest lift for the month will be in the Asturias, which will bring 1540 migrants, including 100 Poles, from Britain. The Ormonde recently arrived with 1070. The Empire Brent will carry 980. and the Ranchi 948.

New ships will appear on the regular migrant run in November and December, when the Somersetshire and the Dorsetshire will enter the service. The Georgic will bring 2100 on her maiden migrant voyage early in January. This month 5250 migrants will enter Australia from displaced persons’ camps' in Europe. This is almost double the number of displaced persons now in the Commonwealth.

The Times, London, in a leading article on emigration says: “The populations of Canada, Australia, ■ and New Zealand without reinforcements of immigrants are not likely to grow beyond 15,000,000, 9,000,000, and 2,500,000 respectively, and Australia and New Zealand may even suffer a decline of numbers if they fail to persuade their people permanently to prefer families of three or four children instead of one or two, Yet these countries could support respectively 60,000,000, 30,000,000 and 10,000,000, and the whole world would benefit if millions of workers could be transferred from regions of overpopulation to regions where there is room for them.”