During the fourth industrial period immigration to Australia changed its character completely. Before 1851 the voluntary immigration had been small, and altogether overshadowed by immigration promoted by the Government. During the gold period this was reversed, and the immigration of persons not in any way assisted by the State or charitable organizations far exceeded in numbers that of the other class. In New South Wales itself this was not the case so far as immigration from Europe alone was concerned, but it was true of the total immigration.

During the first five years of the period the traditional policy of assisting immigrants from the United Kingdom was still held to firmly by the authorities, and numerous experiments were tried and abandoned, but in the principal colonies public opinion on the subject of State-aided immigration underwent a complete change before the period closed, and a large section of the population was opposed to it.

NEW SOUTH WALES

When the period opened immigration to New South Wales was going on slowly under the threefold system inherited from the previous period, but in 1851 the number assisted had fallen to barely 1850. The majority of these were selected by the Commissioners in England, the numbers brought out under the remittance and the land deposit systems being comparatively few. There was a decided feeling in the colony that the immigrants sent out by the Commissioners were not well chosen, and that the system was very costly.