Chronology 1960 to now


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1960s

Photo: Wolf Blass Despite the strength of the West German economy and high standard of living now enjoyed by most in central Europe, many Germans (and Austrians and Swiss) were still attracted to Australia. Some saw it as a place of wide open spaces (unlike their crowded homeland) and new opportunities, for example Wolf Blass (>>), the mega-successful South Australian wine maker who arrived in 1960 after qualifying as a winemaker in Germany. In 1982 Blass told the German magazine DER SPIEGEL:

"Nothing would attract me back to Europe and its limited possibilities. Germany cannot offer me the freedom which I enjoy in Australia, both personally and as an entrepreneur."

It's estimated that about 135,000 Germans emigrated to Australia between 1950 and 1975.

1960

On the 24th May the (new, post-WWII) Republic of Austria appointed its first Envoy Extraordinary to Australia (Dr. de Comtes). On the 17th March 1964 Austria decided to upgrade its legation in Australia to an embassy and on 17th July 1964 the first ambassador, Dr. Reitbauer, arrived in Canberra.

1970s

With the worldwide economic recession of the 1970s and higher unemployment in Australia, immigration numbers were reduced and authorities became more selective. Immigrants bringing capital and entrepreneurial skills were in demand.

1972

On the 22nd December the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) opened its embassy in Canberra. This followed the decision of Gough Whitlam's new government to establish diplomatic relations with China, East Germany and North Vietnam; the Whitlam government wanted a "more independent Australian stance in international affairs". In June 1974 the Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Willesee said:

The first duty of Government is to recognise and comprehend the world as it actually is, not as we might conceive or wish it to be.

1980s

In this decade there continued to be German-speakers who came to Australia in the belief that they would be safer here than in Europe in the event of the Cold War becoming a nuclear one. German immigrants in the 1980s were usually well-off, and according to Australia's Immigration Office in Köln the main reasons for German emigrants' interest in Australia were: danger of war, growing unemployment, overcrowding in Germany's big cities, high housing costs and Australia's weather.

1980

In April the Australian government granted political asylum to Heidi Giersch, a ballet-dancer touring Australia with the East German ensemble Komische Oper. This is only the second occasion since World War II when the government has granted political asylum (the first was the Petrov Affair in 1954) and it caused quite a stir. It was probably a political protest act directed against the European communist countries at a time when Russia had recently invaded Afghanistan and when the Australian government had decided against joining the US-led boycott of the Moscow Olympic Games.

1997

A comprehensive reader survey conducted by Germany's premier travel magazine, 'GLOBO' revealed that Australia was the favourite travel destination for German tourists in 1997.
You can read a PDF document about German tourism to Australia at the website of Tourism Australia (> Markets > Europe > Germany > Research and Statistics > Germany Visitor Profile).

2000

On 23rd July, at its Regular Convention 2000, the Lutheran Church of Australia made an apology to Australia's native people. Dr Steicke made the following statement:

"On behalf of the rest of the people of our church, I am sorry for the suffering and hurt that your people have had to endure. We ask God to forgive us for the evil we have done, and the help we have failed to give you. We resolve to work together with you, to share and learn together, to accept and respect each other. Help us to listen to you and learn from you. We promise to work with you and others for justice and harmony in relationships. We recognise the contribution which indigenous people are making. We are sorry for the bad things that have happened in the past. Please forgive us."

Pastor Jimmy Haines, representative of the Aboriginal people of Central Australia, responded in Arrarnta, which was translated by Mr Garry Stoll.

"Many of us Aboriginal people living in Central Australia and also us pastors have been discussing this word reconciliation for a long time. More recently people asked me to speak on their behalf at this synod. That's why I'm speaking to you as their representative..... We do not hold a grudge against white people for what happened. There are people who always want to only talk about the bad things the white people did. We however would rather remember that many white people helped us and many are our friends to this day. More than anything however, we thank God that he sent his messengers to us with His Word. The missionaries taught us about God and stayed with us for a long time. Today there are many Aboriginal Christians and Pastors in Central Australia. We are really happy about that. We are also happy that the Lutheran Church continues to help us."

dot point On 5th July Australian champion discus-thrower Werner Reiterer stunned the Australian public with the publication of his book Positive. In it Reiterer admitted that he had taken banned performance-enhancing drugs from 1995 onwards, and he alleged that a handful of Australian Olympic officials were protecting some elite track-and-field athletes who were using them. The Australian Olympic Committee immediately announced a judicial enquiry; however, the enquiry was later called off when Reiterer refused to name specific people involved in his allegations. Reiterer was born in the north-west Austrian village of Hohenems and emigrated to Australia with his family when he was 3 years old. He competed for Australia at two Olympic Games. He was a finalist (10th) at Barcelona in 1992, was Commonwealth Games Gold medallist in 1994, and was the male Australian track-and-field athlete of the year in 1995. He was Australian discus champion 9 times. During the Sydney Olympic Games he was interviewed by international journalists, and he found that they were more interested than Australian journalists in the issues he wanted to draw people's attention to. He believed that Australian journalists only wanted him to name names.

2005

On the 3rd of February 2005 the German-Australian Cornelia Rau was free again, after 10 months behind bars, firstly in a women’s prison, then in a detention centre for illegal immigrants on the edge of the desert in the state of South Australia. The case of this 39-year-old woman, whose family had emigrated from Hamburg to Australia in 1967, caused a scandal in Australia since it brought to public attention conditions in Australia’s refugee detention centres.

2007

In June 2007 Mathias Cormann, who had emigrated from the German-speaking part of Belgium, became a senator for the state of Western Australia in the Australian Parliament. Later he was Australia's Finance Minister for several years.

2008

On the 26th November 2008 the family of the German doctor Bernhard Möller received the news that the Australian Minister for Immigration Chris Evans had decided that they could stay in Australia on an ongoing basis. Möller worked as the only specialist for internal medicine in the rural town of Horsham north-west of Melbourne. Originally the immigration authorities had turned down the family’s application for permanent residency with the justification that the doctor’s Down-syndrome son would cause significant and ongoing costs to the Australian community.

2017

The former Australian rules footballer, Nick Riewoldt, published his autobiography, titled The things that make us. Riewoldt was one of the most successful forwards in the Australian Football League (the sports journalist Glenn McFarlane described him in 2023 as "a superstar key forward and great leader"). He played 336 games for the St Kilda Football Club between 2001-2017 and was the club’s captain in 2005 and from 2007 to 2016. The first chapter of his book is titled ‘Heritage’, and most of the chapter focuses on his German background.
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