And the full development of colonial regimes in the Pacific, in the way that it's imagined in this now post-colonial age, had begun. In 1900 began a story that is both uncharacteristic of the Pacific and a microcosm of it. This has been the final Encounter in the 'Century Series'. It's about Oceania. The 20th century has been the century of the refugee.
Millions stagnate in camps, displaced by war, famine and political oppression.
Some are fighting for a homeland. Others have seen their homeland taken away. All of us, in one way or another, have been displaced by modernity. Meanwhile, the first act of the new Australian Parliament in 1901, was the Immigration Restriction Act. And, despite a hundred years of enormously successful migration, at the end of the century we are still tightening entry restrictions.