In 1945, the Australian Government formed the Commonwealth Department of Immigration. Its role was to oversee the nation's ambitious post-war migration program, itself a response to the belief that Australia was vulnerable to invasion.
Prior to the Second World War, Prime Minister Billy Hughes had voiced concerns about declining birth rates and urged Australians to 'populate or perish'. Arthur Calwell later used this phrase to promote European immigration.
Horizons describes the mood of the times through images and historical material. It shows government ministers greeting new arrivals at the docks and introduces us to individuals carefully selected to present a positive face of migration to the public.
Overall, Horizons is a strong reminder that the debate about Australia's size and population is not a new one.
Before and after shots such as the ones of Vassiliki Daflou were taken to remind everyone that migration was a good thing. In Horizons, photographs show this young Greek woman, in traditional dress, stirring a pot in her home in Greece in 1961.
The bottom image was taken one year later at her workplace in a Sydney hospital. It shows her looking modern and happy. Daflou migrated to Australia after taking English lessons and training as a domestic servant.