Although American GIs were criticized as being "oversexed, overpaid and over here" mainly because of their reputation for being free spenders and their success with local women a lasting bond and mutual respect developed between the fighting men of Australia and the United States. In the aftermath of the war, the debate on Australia's future turned to its pitifully small population. To overcome this weakness the catch-cry was coined "populate or perish." And so the great postwar period of immigration began.
Every aspect of contemporary Australian life has been influenced by the influx of immigrants over the past fifty-odd years. The first wave carne from Europe: Britons who had seen their homes demolished during the Blitz and the Continent's displaced people and refugees who desperately wanted an opportunity to build a new future. The Change came, albeit in very small ways. Immigrants established restaurants that allowed them to enjoy foods from their homelands. For a few years, they had these to themselves, but in the late 1960s students would hunt out Balkan or Greek restaurants, which were not only exotic but cheap. As ethnic communities gathered in different suburbs, the character of neighborhoods began to change.
Walking through Cabramatta in Sydney is like visiting an Asian city, while Johnston Street in Melbourne, with its tapas bars, is a little piece of Spain. In a number of capitals Chinatown is a major tourist attraction, with restaurants that employ the best chefs from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. Whereas once Australians might venture to the local Chinese restaurant for some chow mien, today you are more likely to find diners arguing the relative merits of Cantonese regional cooking and the more spicy Sichuan cuisine.
The stamp of immigration goes deeper than The pleasures of the table. Although Australians were OPPOSITE: Introduced by early explorers, camels thrive in the Red Centre. ABOVE: Newlyweds on Hamilton Island, part of the With Sunday
CONFLICT AND RECONCILIATION at first unused to non-English speakers, the initial cultural shock gave way to liberalization and an acceptance that Australia was a multicultural society. Newcomers have widened Australian perspectives of the world just as the continent itself lies over a tectonic plate sluggishly moving a few millimeters each year towards Asia, so also are Australia's attitudes and policies looking towards the Orient. The Vietnam War brought home to Australia that it was geographically part of Asia, and Australia's involvement there provided the first local in-depth reporting of that part of the world. It was the Whitlam government of the early 1970s that turned the country's foreign policy towards its neighbors.
The slow continental drift is now being overtaken by a profound cultural shift, as Australia embraces more immigrants from South East Asia. Although they compose just five percent of the population, East Asians are the fastest growing immigrant group. Although nearly 23% of the current population was born overseas, Australia as a monarchy and Queen Elizabeth H of Great Britain is also the Queen of Australia. A few changes have occurred. In 1984," Advance Australia Fair" replaced "God Save the Queen" as the national anthem, although the Union Jack still occupies a corner of the national flag. Over the last few decades, the belief that Australia should become a republic has become almost universal, although a 1999 referendum rejected the alternative, presidential model proposed by the sitting conservative government. Most political commentators believe it is only a matter of time before the Republic of Australia becomes a reality.
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