70 year-old toy koala; a symbol of the gift of immigration

By Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House
July 20 2020 - 12:00am
Isobel Saxelby, aged 6, was given gifts including a stuffed koala when she arrived in Australia as the 100,000th post-war British immigrant in 1949.
Isobel Saxelby, aged 6, was given gifts including a stuffed koala when she arrived in Australia as the 100,000th post-war British immigrant in 1949.

Between 1945 and 1955, approximately one million migrants, mainly from Great Britain and Europe, arrived in Australia, championed by Australia's first minister for immigration, Arthur Calwell.