The newspaper article by Malcolm Quekett explores postwar migration to Western Australia through the history of the Graylands Reception and Training Centre, later known as the Graylands Migrant Hostel, and through the personal experiences of migrants who passed through it. The story brings together Dr Nonja Peters’ research on migration and the recollections of former residents Helene Melnema (née de Boer) and Brian Brown.
Dr Nonja Peters, a retired academic who has written widely on migration history, focuses her latest research on Graylands, near Mount Claremont, which from 1947 to 1966 housed thousands of newly arrived migrants. The facility began as a reception and training centre for displaced persons from Europe under agreements between Australia, Britain, and the International Refugee Organisation. It later accommodated other nationalities, including Dutch, Italians, and Britons arriving under assisted migration programs. Peters explains that the postwar Australian Government, under the slogan “populate or perish”, sought to increase the labour force and strengthen national defence through large-scale immigration. The first arrivals came from Britain, followed by many from across Europe. She describes how Graylands’ basic Nissen huts and communal facilities provided essential shelter and adjustment training, though conditions were austere, privacy scarce, and the food unfamiliar. Migrants faced culture shock, illness, and language barriers, yet many adapted and built successful new lives.
Helene Melnema arrived in Western Australia from the Netherlands in 1953 with her parents Johannus and Wietze de Boer and siblings. Before settling at Graylands, the family had been placed at the Holden Immigration Accommodation Centre in Northam. Melnema recalls Graylands as “like Shangri-La” by comparison, a friendlier place where her family could regain stability. She remembers attending Graylands Primary School without knowing English, the kindness of teachers and neighbours, and the sense of community among Dutch families. She recalls the simple pleasures—puffed wheat for breakfast, tomato soup for lunch, and plum jam sandwiches at school. Later the family moved into a house in Subiaco, taking in Dutch boarders while her father worked in the building industry. Her memories evoke both the hardship and gratitude of postwar resettlement.
Brian Brown, another former resident, arrived from England in 1958 with his family of seven. His father worked as a plumber at the Kwinana refinery. Brown describes Graylands as both lively and difficult, recalling walks to Claremont, school days at John Curtin High, and weekends exploring the beaches. Despite the rough conditions, he says, “I never looked back. I never missed the old country.” But he also notes that “many people could not handle it and went back,” reflecting the challenges of adapting to life in a new land.
Dr Peters notes that by the 1970s the old Nissen huts were replaced by brick housing, and the hostel later housed asylum seekers and refugees from newer conflicts. By the time it closed in 1987, more than 35,000 migrants had passed through its gates, including Dutch, Italians, Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Romanians, and later Vietnamese and Iranians. The land was subsequently redeveloped, erasing most traces of the site’s migrant past. Dr Peters’ research aims to preserve those memories and will be made publicly available at the State Library of Western Australia.
The article blends historical analysis with personal testimony, offering a vivid portrait of postwar migration—one of resilience, adaptation, and community-building that shaped Western Australia’s cultural identity
