New Australians are non-British migrants to Australia who arrived in the wave of immigration following World War 2. The term initially referred to newly arrived immigrants, generally refugees, who were expected to eventually become mainstream Australians. It was originally coined by Arthur Calwell

Arthur Calwell

Arthur Augustus Calwell Australian politician, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1940 to 1972, Immigration Minister in the government of Ben Chifley from 1945 to 1949 and Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1960 to 1967.-Early life:Calwell was born in...

, Australia’s first Minister for Immigration, to promote the assimilation

Assimilation

Assimilation may refer to:*Assimilation , a linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an adjacent sound...

of migrants to Australia from continental Europe. Its use was intended to be positive, and to discourage use of pejorative terms such as “reffo” or “Balt” that were then in frequent use. The term has fallen into disuse since the 1970s.