Australian History/1950s

‹ Return to the Contents ‹ Back to World War II The decade following the Second World War set in motion a number of significant events whose implications would shape the decades to come. Labour shortages would see a dramatic rise in postwar migration from outside the Anglo-American world. Australia's longest serving Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, would begin his second term (at the helm of the newly formed Liberal Party), and Australians would experience a prolonged period of economic prosperity as a product of 'the long boom'. The Snowy River Scheme provided low-paid work for many immigrants to Australia at this time. It would be a significant decade for sport and technology too, with Melbourne hosting the 1956 Olympics, and the first television telecasts which went along with it. Forward to Australia in the Sixties ›