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that European migrants were well accepted in Australia. The major theme of ‘new Australians at a ceremony as they become Aussies’ was also compatible with the assimilation policy of Australian immigration in the 1960s. The opening narration of The New Australians states,
European involvement and contribution were also stressed in the film by a long shot of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the new Opera House with the narration: ‘They’ve found their feet in Australia…and they’re making their mark, creating new symbols of a different Australia’. When the film scene switches to a soccer game in a school playfield, the closing remark recognises European migrants as New Australians: ‘In a generation yesterday is history—and these children, from a score and more European countries, see themselves only as Australians…New Australians of course’. Ethnicity and national identity were interconnected in the term New Australians. In fact, many Australian post-war documentary films involved meanings of ethnic identity and national identity in a complex environment of migration policy transformations. In other words, national identity and migration policies were intertwined in the making of documentary films for migration purposes in the post-war era in Australia. The inquiry of this book is based upon such relationships as the substantive ground of analysis.
Numerous research articles and books focusing on Australian immigration have been published. Issues addressed include history; government policies; economic and geographical impact; racial, identity, and multicultural issues; and migrant stories and experiences. However, few researchers have written about the post-war documentary films that promoted the Australian immigration scheme following the 1950s. Previous scholarly contributors to this topic include Albert Moran, Ina Bertrand, Diane Collins, and Deane Williams, who studied Australian government