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Leishout family on board the ZUIDERKRUIS

Publisher Fairfax Publications, Sydney Morning Herald

Date1960

Object numberANMS1453[152]

NamePhotograph

Mediumphotographic print on paper

DimensionsOverall: 217 × 305 mm

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection

Terms

DescriptionBlack and white image of Karel and Anna Van Leishout and their 12 children posing on the deck of the ZUIDERKRUIS in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. A newspaper clipping attached to the back of the photograph reads ‘This Dutch family of 14 reached Sydney yesterday in the migrant liner ZUIDERKRUIS after waiting eight years to migrate to Australia. The head of the family, Mr Karel Van Leishout, 48, a plasterer from Weert, said that he and his wife, Anna, first tried to bring their family to Australia in 1952 when they had seven children. Dutch emigration authorities then said that accommodation was scarce in Australia, families with more than four children could not be allowed to migrate. Pictured above (left to right) are Back Row: Johannes, 15, Mr and Mrs Van Leishout, Josephina, 1, Hendrikus,11. Centre: Maria, 17, Carla, 13, Wilhelmina, 12, Johanna, 18. Front: Theodorus, 3, Petronella, 7, Catharina, 5, Franciscus, 8, Petrus, 10.’ HistorySince the first Fleet dropped anchor in 1788, more than 10 million people have moved from across the world to start a new life in Australia, arriving in waves, encouraged by the 1850s gold rushes or to escape adverse conditions at home in the social upheavals of C19th Britain's industrial revolution, the turmoil of revolution, two world wars, the aftermath of the Vietnam war in the 1970s and more recent conflicts. With the catchphrase 'populate or perish' ringing through the community, Australia stepped up its immigration in the years after WWII, offering assisted passage to British migrants, encouraging migration from European countries, and finally in the 1970s repealing the restrictive white Australia policy framed after federation in 1901. More than seven million new settlers have now crossed Australia's shores since 1945 and it's estimated that one in four of Australia's population was born overseas.SignificanceThis image is one of a series produced by Fairfax newspapers that provides a unique window into how immigrants were viewed and immigration policy articulated in the popular press. The images in this selection are significant in representing something of the personal face to Australia's massive post-war immigration push that saw aggressive immigration programs orchestrated by the Australian Government that was promoting a 'populate or perish' philosophy.