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Displaced Persons MemorialPrint Page Print this page

28-July-2022 (Henry Moulds)
28-July-2022 (Henry Moulds)

Photographs supplied by Roger Johnson / Henry Moulds

The monument includes a sculpture commemorating wives and children of the refugees who worked on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. It also contains information boards and other memorials to the history of displaced persons who stayed in the area during these years.

The Uranquinty Migrant Centre was established as a result of the Displaced Persons Immigration Scheme that had been embarked upon by Prime Minister Chifley's government at the end of the Second World War as was a part of the Populate or Perish policy of the time. Under Arthur Calwell, Australia's first Minister for Immigration, displaced persons still in camps within Germany, Austria and France were chosen to fill the need for a constant supply of labour to the country.

Reception and training centres were established in now disused army and airforce camps in rural and remote areas such as Uranquinty from 1948, particularly because by then married displaced persons with their families were being allowed entry into Australia. Places like Uranquinty had the space to provide accommodation for the wives and children. Many of these displaced persons worked on the relatively nearby Snowy Mountains Scheme.
 

Location

Address:Olympic Highway, Wirraway Park, Uranquinty, 2652
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -35.192711
Long: 147.246101
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Settlement
Designer:
Artist:Canny Kinlock
Monument Manufacturer:Wagga Iron

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Saturday 14th April, 2001
Front Inscription

Kaia

Commemorating Uranquinty Migrant Centre Community

1948 - 1952

Artist : Canny Kinlock  
Cast : Wagga Iron  

14th April 2001

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au