Opposing Australia’s First Assisted Immigrants, 1832-42

This book unravels the paradoxical denigration of the first significant group of free (non-convict), working-class emigrants to the Australian colony of New South Wales in the 1830s. Though their labour was sorely needed, the colonial elite rejected the new arrivals on the grounds that they were ‘lazy’ and ‘immoral’. These criticisms stemmed from political, economic, and cultural motivations that ultimately sought to protect, legitimise, and cement the elite’s financial and social hegemony. The author seeks to explore the ulterior motives behind the public denouncements of immigrants by exposing the conflicting and opportunistic rationales used. Brought to Australia from Britain and Ireland through the experiment of ‘government-assisted migration,’ these immigrants are often remembered as ‘brave pioneers’ today, but this book exposes the deep antagonistic attitudes toward immigration that remain entrenched in Australian society. Uncovering early forms of class antagonism in Australia,this book presents useful insights for those researching Australian history and migration studies, as well as scholars of colonial history, by providing a model for re-evaluating and confronting a long-standing pattern in most settler societies: hostility toward immigrants.

1. Introduction.- 2. Collateral Damage in a Political Game.- 3. The Interwoven Trio: Immigration, Representative Government and Transportation .- 4. Land, Labour and the Economic Development of New South Wales.- 5. When Wealth Equals Worth.- 6. Impossible Standards: Gender Norms and the Rejection of Single Female Immigrants.- 7. Adversity Absent Compassion: The Migrant Experience.- 8. Conclusion.

Melanie Burkett is the Assistant Dean for Advising and Experiential Learning and Assistant Professor of History at Quinnipiac University, USA. Her research focuses on migration to Britain’s settler colonies in the nineteenth century. Her work has been published in Australia, Migration and Empire: Immigrants in a Globalised World (Palgrave, 2019), the Journal of Migration History, and the Melbourne Historical Journal. She studied at Macquarie University with the support of the International Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship, and during that time, she served as a post-graduate student representative to the Australian Historical Association Executive Committee. Prior to that, she studied history at North Carolina State University, USA, and obtained degrees from Duke and Ohio universities.