The story of the thousands of Indonesians who came to Australia during World War 2 as evacuees from the Netherlands East Indies, and their role in the Indonesian independence struggle.

The influx of over 5,000 Indonesian men, women and children into Australia during World War 2 has been largely overlooked. These people were military personnel, merchant sailors, civilians and even political prisoners of the Dutch, all evacuees from the Japanese-occupied Netherlands East Indies. They arrived as subjects of the Dutch colonial empire, and the majority left after the war as rebels, supporting the fledgling Indonesian republic which Soekarno had proclaimed when the Japanese surrendered. This book tells the fascinating story of the Indonesians' engagement with White Australia as they were dispersed to cities and country towns, and of the repercussions when their struggle for independence was supported at grassroots level by their Australian friends; by unionists, particularly the Waterside Workers Federation and Seamen's Union; and eventually by the Chifley Labor Government itself.

Details

ISBN13: 9780646859415
Format: Paperback / softback
Number of Pages: 326
Edition: 2nd ed.
Publication Date: 1 May 2022
Publisher: Australia Indonesia Association of Nsw
Publication City, Country:
Dimensions (cm): 21(H) x 14(L) x1.9(W)404
Weight (gm): 404

Author Biography

Jan Lingard has had a long career teaching Indonesian at the Australian National University and at the University of Sydney.Her previous publications are in the field of Literary Translation.These includeThe Outlaw and other Stories . Oxford University Press 1987Diverse Lives Oxford University Press 1995Eyewitness Imprint 1997. Winner of Victorian Premiers Literary Award for Literary Translation 1997.

Reviews

Refugees and Rebels Reviews

Review by Hamish McDonald

April 2022

As the Pacific War is ending, a new struggle starts as Indonesians resist the return of their Dutch colonial rulers. In Australia, tension grows between Dutch officials and their Indonesian underlings who'd fled the invading Japanese, and a diverse group of Australians - trade union leaders, bishops, communists, theosophists, lawyers, housewives - argue it's time for Australia to back its emerging Indonesian neighbour. Their agitation leads to a waterfront black ban on Dutch shipping and Australian diplomatic mediation that eventually help Indonesia break free. Jan Lingard gives us the definitive account of this enthralling but little-known episode that pushed Australia into engagement with post-colonial Asia. -- Hamish McDonald