Australian Immigrants.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20094, 25 November 1930, Page 10

Australian Immigrants.

The Government will have to decide soon what it is going to do about the drift of unemployed from Australia to the Dominion. A few days ago it was announced from Wellington that unemployed Australians were arriving in this country in growing numbers to escape the depressed conditions prevailing in the Commonwealth, and that every steamer was bringing a fresh quota. To-day a Press Association message from Invercargill announces that the Maheno has reached Bluff from Melbourne with 155 steerage passengers out of a total of 252 of all classes, and most people will wonder how many of these new arrivals have work to come to or are in a position to maintain themselves without work. In any case it is natural that Australians without work should seek refuge in a country where subsistence (they will have been told) is assured, even if there is no employment offering, and the Dominion will have to protect itself. Canada refuses admission lo tlie unemployed of the other Dominions, on the ground that there is already enough unemployment in all the Provinces, ami it has been reported that France, which is supposed to have escaped unemployment, would not allow a party of Australians to seek work there. The Government will have to act promptly if it is to do anything useful, for although it is not clear yet whether the new arrivals have a claim on the Unemployment Fund, they will, if indigent, have a claim for sustenance upon the local TTospital Boards. The Dominion is not in a position to shoulder these new liabilities.