<P> Post-war immigration to Australia deals with migration to Australia since the end of World War II . In the immediate aftermath of World War II, Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (1945 - 1949), established the federal Department of Immigration to administer a large - scale immigration program . Chifley commissioned a report on the subject which found that Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development and it recommended a 1% annual increase in population through increased immigration . </P> <P> The first Minister for Immigration, Arthur Calwell, promoted mass immigration with the slogan "populate or perish". Calwell coined the term "New Australians" in an effort to supplant such terms as pommy (Englishman) and wog . </P>

Why did australia need migrants after world war 2