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Image Not Available for Benn family on board the FAIRSTAR
Benn family on board the FAIRSTAR
Image Not Available for Benn family on board the FAIRSTAR

Benn family on board the FAIRSTAR

Publisher
Date1970
Object numberANMS1453[157]
NamePhotograph
Mediumphotographic print on paper
DimensionsOverall: 305 × 228 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection
DescriptionBlack and white image of Mr and Mrs James Benn with their 12 children seated upon stairs on the deck of the FAIRSTAR on its arrival into Sydney from Britain. A newspaper clipping attached to the back of the photograph reads ‘When Mr James Benn takes his family out he has to stop regularly for a count of heads. The Benn family arrived in Sydney today in the liner FAIRSTAR to make their new home at Warilla on the South Coast. On the way out from Britain Mr Benn made regular checks to make sure he still had his 12 youngsters in tow.’ 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.