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Finnish Australians ( fi, Australiansuomalaiset) are Australian citizens of Finnish ancestry or
The first group of Finnish immigrants who arrived in Australia came to work in the gold mines of Victoria in the 1850s. Years later, after the first significant wave of Finnish immigration in the 1920s, a second major wave of immigrants from the Nordic country takes place again, this being more numerous than the first one. Finns were usually hired to perform heavy physical labour. Despite this, they were particularly attracted by the income from the sugar cane fields and mining in
* Matt Acton, goalkeeper
*
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
-born people who reside in Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. According to Finnish estimates, there are approximately 30,000 Australians of Finnish ancestry, and about 7,500 Finland-born Finns residing in Australia.
History
Many Finnish immigrants began arriving in Australia between 1947 and 1971. When these new immigrants came to Australia, they were taken to refugee camps. Once in the camp, they were given free room and board until the head of the family was assigned his first job. The largest and best-known of these camps wasBonegilla
Bonegilla is a bounded rural locality of the City of Wodonga local government area in north-east Victoria, Australia, east of Wodonga, and around north-east of Melbourne. At the , Bonegilla and the surrounding area had a population of 610.
H ...
, a former military camp in northern Victoria. Most of these Finns, along with more than 300,000 immigrants from other countries, began their new lives in Bonegilla during this period.
The first group of Finnish immigrants who arrived in Australia came to work in the gold mines of Victoria in the 1850s. Years later, after the first significant wave of Finnish immigration in the 1920s, a second major wave of immigrants from the Nordic country takes place again, this being more numerous than the first one. Finns were usually hired to perform heavy physical labour. Despite this, they were particularly attracted by the income from the sugar cane fields and mining in Mount Isa
Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...
, in north Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. As a result, Mount Isa has one of the largest Finnish communities in Australia.
At the end of the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, around 20,000 Finns had moved to Australia. In the last three decades the Finnish immigration has dropped significantly.
In the mid 1950s an economic crisis occurs in Finland causing a new wave of Finnish immigration to Australia
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
European colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of a B ...
. One of the main reasons for leaving Finland, besides crisis, was Australia's reinvigorated assisted passage scheme.
Notable people
* Matt Acton, goalkeeper
* Carsten Haitzler
Carsten Haitzler (born 1975), known as Raster or Rasterman to the free software movement, open source community, is an Australian-German software engineer, best known for initiating and leading the development of the Enlightenment (software), Enli ...
, software engineer
* Greg Norman
Gregory John Norman AO (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian entrepreneur and retired professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 89 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA Tour tournament ...
, professional golfer
* Connie Garner
Connie Garner (born 22 May 1979) is a fitness competitor and NABBA Miss World Fitness. She won the Miss World Fitness title in 2000."ACT's Miss World Fitness relishes being at the top", ''Canberra Times'', Canberra Australia, 30 June 2000."200 ...
, bodybuilder, actor, fitness model and cybersecurity
* Sanna Jalomäki Artist Sanna is a Finnish Australian singer, songwriter, painter and formally trained actress.
She studied at Tampere University of Technology in Finland, then worked as a professional actress appearing on national and international television.
Fr ...
, singer, songwriter and painter
* Paul Sironen
Paul Sironen (born 23 May 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of Finnish descent who was a prominent Second-row forward for the Balmain Tigers during the late 1980s, and early 1990s. He was part of the team that ...
, rugby league player
* Satu Vänskä, violinist
* Shane Jacobson
Shane Jacobson (born 18 March 1970) is an Australian actor, director, writer, and comedian, best known as the "Dunny Man" for his performances as the eponymous character Kenny Smyth, a plumber working for a portable toilet rental company, in the ...
, actor, director, writer, and comedian
* David Michael, Western Australian politician
See also
*Australia–Finland relations
Foreign relations are present between Australia and Finland. Diplomatic relations were established on 31 May 1949. Australia is represented in Finland through its embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, and through an honorary consulate in Helsinki. Finla ...
* European Australians
European Australians are citizens or residents of Australia whose ancestry originates from the peoples of Europe. They form the largest panethnic group in the country. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses categorised within Eu ...
* Europeans in Oceania
Age of Discovery, European exploration and settlement of Oceania began in the 16th century, starting with the Spanish people, Spanish (Crown of Castile, Castilian) landings and shipwrecks in the Mariana Islands, east of the Philippines. This was f ...
* Finnish diaspora
The Finnish diaspora consists of Finnish emigrants and their descendants, especially those that maintain some of the customs of their Finnish culture. Finns emigrated to the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Canada, Australia, Argentina ...
* Immigration to Australia
The Australian continent was first settled when ancestors of Indigenous Australians arrived via the islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and New Guinea over 50,000 years ago.
European colonisation began in 1788 with the establishment of a B ...
* Norwegian Australians
Norwegian Australians ( no, Norskaustraliere) are Australian citizens of Norwegian ancestry. The majority of these people were part of the Norwegian diaspora.
History
An organised European immigration to Australia was initiated in 1788. Most o ...
* Scandinavian Australians
* Swedish Australians
Swedish Australians ( sv, Svenskaustralier) are Australians with Swedish ancestry, most often related to the large groups of immigrants from Sweden in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The 2011 Census showed 34,029 people ...
References
{{Portal bar, Australia, Finland European Australian