On two days this week, a man from Australia House has been at the Ministry of Labour office in Water Lane, Watford, giving information about assisted passages – £10 for each adult and children under 14 entirely free – to the Commonwealth.

The official’s visits from place to place have been advertised widely and given an ITV spot, and between 40 and 50 inquirers, mostly married men, came along to get first hand news of prospects for them and their families Down Under.

The man from Australia said at the present stage the inquiries were largely exploratory but that experience showed well over 90 per cent of the passage-assisted emigrants from England to Australia settled down happily in their new homes.

[From the Watford Observer of June 1, 1956]

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