MIGRATION SCHEME

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 21, 25 July 1945, Page 6

MIGRATION SCHEME

TO AUSTRALIA FOR £10

Rec. 12.30 p.m. CANBERRA, July 25. British migrants would be able to come to Australia on payment of a fare of not more than £10 under a proposal made by the Commonwealth to the British Government. Australia has proposed that all costs of fares above £10 should be paid by the two Governments. I Britain and Australia are now nego-! tiating on the proportion which each should contribute. An early announcement on migration policy has been promised by the Minister of Immigration and Information, Mr. Calwell. Major aspects of the Commonwealth policy will be to provide for encouraging the migration to Australia of British ex-servicemen and their families, and children, particularly orphans, at the rate of 7000 a year. The appointment of an Australian Migration Commission to visit Britain and Europe is considered by Ministers to be essential. SOCIAL SECURITY. Agreement is still being sought with Britain on the details of the plan for paying the British migrants full Australian social security and repatriation benefits. , ~ Mr. F. M. Forde has reported to the Government that when he was in London Lord Cranborne, Secretary for the Dominions, and British authorities told him that the British Government favoured the encouragement of migration to the Dominions, and particularly to Australia and New Zealand as an important part of Empire policy. Mr. Forde was told that Britain* prefers Australia and New Zealand to Canada as a destination for migrants. Past experience had shown that a great number of British subjects were lost from Canada to the United States, where the climate and opportunities were more attractive than in Canada.