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We Never Had It So Good?

Themes from the Dictionary of NZ Biography Volume 5, 1941–1960

Becoming New Zealanders

Population, immigration and citizenship, 1940–1960

Britain of the South | Race restriction | Peopling NZ | Assisted immigration | Settling in | Citizenship | New cultural perspectives | Further reading | Biographies

New Zealand—the Britain of the south

From 1840 until the 1970s, Britain was the main source for immigrants to New Zealand. There were historical and political grounds for this—New Zealand was first a British colony and later a Dominion—but also cultural and economic reasons. Official feeling was that encouragement should be given to those people who would have least difficulty adapting to life in New Zealand. Deliberate preference was shown for immigrants from countries with similar political and social institutions.

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British immigrants arriving on board the Rangitata

(click for enlargement and reference)

The race restriction

Immigration policy was also strongly influenced by racial ideology. The Immigration Restriction Act 1920 made it necessary for immigrants to apply for a permanent residence permit before they arrived in New Zealand. Permission was given at the discretion of the Minister of Customs. People of British birth and parentage were not subject to this requirement, but officials could avoid allowing Indians and other non-white British subjects into New Zealand by referring to the definitions in the Act. These stated that a person who was a naturalised British subject (or whose parents fell into this category) or who was an 'aboriginal Native or the descendant of an aboriginal Native' of any other British dominion, colony or protectorate, was not of British birth and parentage. Thus, without specifically targetting non-whites, the Act could be used to keep them out. This remained the case throughout the period 1940–1960.

An Indian immigrant who arrived in New Zealand just before the 1920 Act came into force was Jelal Natali. As president of the New Zealand Indian Central Association for periods between the 1930s and 1950s, he spoke out strongly against racial discrimination in New Zealand's immigration policies and helped mediate between the Indian community and wider New Zealand society.

Peopling New Zealand

In the 1920s and 1930s, interested groups, such as the Dominion Settlement and Population Association, had tried to generate some public discussion about New Zealand's population. The annual Pakeha population increase was falling by the late 1920s and this led to calls for increased immigration. The Labour government, elected in 1935, did not have immigration high on its list of priorities, and after 1939 it had more pressing issues to consider, even though a shortage of labour became worse during the war.

The Dominion Population Committee

In December 1945, however, the government set up the Dominion Population Committee to investigate ways of increasing the country's population. When the committee reported back to parliament in September 1946 its recommendations were cautious. It favoured increasing the population by natural means and concluded that immigration could not really solve the problem of peopling the country. It did acknowledge that there were many job vacancies, but argued that the extreme housing shortage would hamper the introduction of any assisted immigration scheme. In fact, New Zealand's population increased dramatically after 1945 as a consequence of both the post-war 'baby boom' and immigration.

Assisted immigration: a helping hand?

An assisted scheme for immigrants from Britain was introduced in July 1947, and large numbers of people also began arriving on their own initiative. From 1945 until 1960, between 9000 and 16,000 people arrived annually from Britain, of whom about two-thirds stayed either long-term or permanently. Assistance was also given to immigrants from the Netherlands after 1950, and many other Dutch people paid their own fares to New Zealand.

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Emigration Poster, 1949

(click for enlargement and reference)

Immigrants from countries deemed 'non-European' (which included even countries in southern Europe, such as Italy and Greece) were still not encouraged to come to New Zealand. Official statistics show that of the 20,294 immigrants intending permanent residence in the 1959/60 year, 16,672 were born in Commonwealth countries (mainly the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada). A further 3113 were born in other European countries (mainly the Netherlands). Only 333 were born in India and China, and 849 in the Pacific Islands. Similar ratios are reflected throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

Public servant Herbert Bockett, as secretary of labour, oversaw the implementation of assisted immigration from both Britain and the Netherlands. For his work on behalf of Dutch immigrants he was later awarded the Olivier Van Noort medallion by the Dutch government.

A politician who helped advance the assisted immigration scheme was William Sullivan, minister of immigration from 1949. He strongly supported the selection of building tradesmen as immigrants—mainly because of the acute housing shortage in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and possibly because he had been a builder himself.

[Related exhibition: Long Journey for Sevenpence: Assisted Immigration to NZ from the UK 1947–1975 ]

Settling in

It was official government policy that new settlers should assimilate into New Zealand society. For those of British extraction this was relatively easy: the language and certain institutions such as the parliamentary and legal systems were the same in New Zealand. For others, however, not being able to speak the English language was a major hurdle, especially as knowledge of English was a prerequisite for becoming a New Zealand citizen. The government did provide language classes which many immigrants attended, and set up immigration welfare committees to provide advice and support to new migrants and to help overcome any anti-immigrant feelings in the local community.

In 1944 more than 700 displaced Polish children, with about 100 adults, arrived in New Zealand. Maria Wodzicka, herself a Polish immigrant, had helped negotiate their acceptance by the New Zealand government, and took a leading role in assisting them to settle in New Zealand. She mediated between the Polish Children's Camp at Pahiatua and government agencies, and she and her family acted as translators.

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Polish children at Pahiatua camp

(click for enlargement and reference)

Citizenship: becoming a New Zealander

On 6 September 1948, the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act was passed. Before the 1948 Act came into force, people born in New Zealand were British subjects, but were not New Zealand citizens. From 1 January 1949 New Zealand citizenship could be acquired by birth in New Zealand, descent, registration or naturalisation. Registration was the process which citizens of the Commonwealth or Ireland underwent in order to take out citizenship. Naturalisation was the process for immigrants from other countries, or 'aliens'. The prerequisites for naturalisation differed from those for registration, particularly in terms of length of residence. This dual system remained intact until the Citizenship Act 1977.

The situation of those classed as 'enemy aliens' during and after the war was particularly difficult. Herbert (Bert) Roth fell into this category, even though he arrived as a Jewish refugee from Nazi-occupied Austria. Restrictions on his ability to hold office in public organisations in New Zealand led him to apply for naturalisation in 1944, before the new Act was passed.

New cultural perspectives: a window on the world

Although official policies did not change much between 1940 and 1960, immigration did bring some interesting changes to New Zealand society. Along with people from Britain, immigrants from countries such as the Netherlands settled in New Zealand, and a small number of refugees and displaced persons from Europe came to live here. These immigrants, by introducing new customs and foods, ideas and practices, slowly began to change the way of life in New Zealand. Nevertheless, the country remained one in which the vast majority of residents had British ancestry and looked to Britain as 'Home'.

Some immigrants in the 1940s and 50s made a major contribution to enriching the quality of life in New Zealand. This was particularly true in the area of arts and culture. Some significant names include Frederick Turnovsky, founder of the New Zealand Chamber Music Society; Poul Gnatt, founder of the New Zealand Ballet Company; Ernst Plischke, New Zealand's leading modernist architect; Gisela Taglicht, teacher of rhythmical dance; Louise Henderson, painter and art teacher; Theodorus Schoon, artist, photographer and carver; and Frank Hofmann, photographer and musician.

Megan Hutching

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