Fomin family departs the ANSHUN
Date1963
Object numberANMS1453[158]
NamePhotograph
Mediumphotographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 305 × 215 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionBlack and white image of Mihail and Fleokista Fomin and their ten children departing the ANSHUN on its arrival in Sydney from Hong Kong.
A paper slip attached to the back of the photograph reads ‘Refugees arrive from RDE China. 67 White Russian Migrants from Red China has their first look at their new country, some with apprehension, when they arrived on the Liner ANSHUN from Hong Kong, which berthed at 3 Walsh Bay today. The refugees, all from the Hailar in the three rivers District of Northern Communist China, will all go to the Bonegilla Migrant Camp near Albury. Here is one of the largest families of white Russians to come out of Red China in the last few years, Mr and Mrs Mihail Fomin and their 10 children, left to right. Afansay (6); Peter (3); Marina (8); Alla (11); Pavel (43); Tatina (15); Paraskeva (18), Stepan (20); and Ivan (22). Mrs Fleokista Fomin with baby Mihail (12months) and Mr Mihail Fomin, leave the gangway of the ship onto the new land.’
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 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.
Fairfax Publications, Sydney Morning Herald
July 1965
