Afghans have played a big part in Australian history and have had a huge contribution towards the economic and social development of early Australia. The actions the Afghans performed have helped mould the Australia we know today. Through letters, immigration forms, personal possessions such as clothing and journals, historians have discovered many things about the Afghans and their job as cameleers in Australia.
Before the arrival of the Afghans travel in Australia was slow as people were travelling with animals such as horses and cattle. These animals could not handle the harsh environment including lack of water and intense heat. This is where the idea of camels came from. In the late 1850s it was decided that camels would bring the most efficient transport for travel in the outback of Australia. The first transportation of the camels to Australia was in …show more content…
However, soon after their arrival they started to face hardship and discrimination because there were seen as too different and stood as outsiders. Tension developed between the Afghans and Europeans when the Afghans started to become very successful and over arguments about who could use the water that was in short supply. A Western Australia Politician asked a question at Federal Parliament about whether the Afghans should be allowed to use the water making a point that they were excluding white men from using it and polluting the water by washing their clothes in it (See Appendix 1). In 1925 when the camels were no longer being used because of motor transport the South Australian Government created the Camel Destruction Act to get rid of them (See Appendix 2). This act was unthinkable to the Afghans, so many of them set theirs free before they could be killed. People began to think Afghans carried diseases, they started to hate them and thought they should be deported (See Appendix 3). Life became harder for the cameleers
Before the arrival of the Afghans travel in Australia was slow as people were travelling with animals such as horses and cattle. These animals could not handle the harsh environment including lack of water and intense heat. This is where the idea of camels came from. In the late 1850s it was decided that camels would bring the most efficient transport for travel in the outback of Australia. The first transportation of the camels to Australia was in …show more content…
However, soon after their arrival they started to face hardship and discrimination because there were seen as too different and stood as outsiders. Tension developed between the Afghans and Europeans when the Afghans started to become very successful and over arguments about who could use the water that was in short supply. A Western Australia Politician asked a question at Federal Parliament about whether the Afghans should be allowed to use the water making a point that they were excluding white men from using it and polluting the water by washing their clothes in it (See Appendix 1). In 1925 when the camels were no longer being used because of motor transport the South Australian Government created the Camel Destruction Act to get rid of them (See Appendix 2). This act was unthinkable to the Afghans, so many of them set theirs free before they could be killed. People began to think Afghans carried diseases, they started to hate them and thought they should be deported (See Appendix 3). Life became harder for the cameleers