Added: Jul 26, 2008
From: journeymanpictures
Duration: 18:20
Sep 2006Paraguay, one of South America's poorest countries, is the surprising home to an Australian diaspora that began 113 years ago. We meet descendants of what The Bulletin magazine of the time called "a harebrained scheme" to build a new Australia in the middle of the jungle, a society in which all Australians were supposed to be equal.About 2,000 Paraguayans can trace their ancestry to a group of 500 bushmen, shearers and unionists who left Australia in the 1890s, led by radical socialist William Lane, after a violent clash between Australia's colonial government, and striking shearers.Among those to undertake the journey was Mary Gilmore, who would later become one of Australia's best known poets. She eventually returned to Australia and excerpts from an interview she did in 1959 are included in the story. "It was purely communistic. I wouldn't say it was a success, but I certainly wouldn't say it was a failure." Dame Mary said. But the dream did fail. Within months the settlers had fallen out, with many refusing to obey Lane's rules of no alcohol, and no mixing with the locals. Many eventually returned to Australia, and those who stayed ended up abandoning communal living, and simply divided the land among themselves.We find that some of their descendants -- with names like Wood, McLeod, Burke and Murray -- are still on the same farms today.
Channel: News
Tags: australian bushmen diaspora lane paraguay shearers socialism unionists william
Rating: 4.86 (28 ratings) Views: 18863' favoriteCount='37 Comments: 29
sillysylv12345 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - cool i am from Paraguay :]
PolishChick1 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - this isnt poland change it
ExMachine Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Strange and interesting story..
vbrandenstein Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Q sorpresa, nunca supe sobre esta rama de Australianos en PY. --vaya uno a saber cuantas de estas historias existen por todo el Paraguay o inclusive Sudamerica.Well documented Journeyman Pictures
gabogaga Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - muy interesante!, being half belgian, half paraguayan, my ancestors undergoing a pretty much similar history... thanks for the post!, it´s nice to hear good news from Paraguay nowadays!
Mariscal8 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Awesome video! The story of emigration to Paraguay (and most of South America) is not very well documented and this is a fascinating story.The Paraguayan government should open up its borders again and accept immigrants from all over the world, just as it did back in the 1880s and 1890s. Why not taken in immigrants from Iraq, for example?
Mariscal8 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Robin Hood is also a famous paraguayan cartoonist. He used to draw for "El Raudal", the newspaper which only appears when it rained. (Spanish pun intended.)
Mariscal8 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Actually, I didnt realize they mentioned Robin Hood's career until the end. By the way, this video has nothing to do with Peru, please remove the tag.
KirbyCajeSaunders Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - do you really have to ask that question? I can give you lots of explosive reasons.
Mark92456 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - It's not Robin Hood, it's Robin Wood.
csacta Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Outstanding, amazing - what a story! Ironic though that many of their ancestors were "racist" and now they are barred from returning to Australia because they are too "foreign". You've got to love humanity...All I can say is VIVA PARAGUAY!!
jockrlo Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - GOD I love paraguayan train..I was living near a encanncion train station when i was kid..in paraguay...wow..so great memories..!!!
egorew Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - idiot
downo14 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - what drugs have you been taking stupid??
flithrymen Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - hola
joandino Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - nice nice
Bichito08 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - what a lovely story!
downo14 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - no, you really must be on fucking drugs!!
downo14 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - stay there, we dont want you back, stay in your third world shithole, we dont need any poverty stricken south americans
brunitobg Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - downo...shut the fuck up..you fucking asshole!!where are u from??im pretty sure u are a fuckin ignorant,u dont know any shit!!im paraguayian and proud of it!!Viva el Paraguay
Mariscal8 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Why not? Paraguay doesn't have to accept any uneducated and unprepared Iraqi immigrants. It would just go after the "cream of the crop" and the "professional class", which would bring their expertise and investments to help the Paraguayan economy. Give me several reasons why this wouldn't be a good idea.
egorew Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - You said open borders like letting anyone and everyone in. First Paraguay already has natural population growth (2.5% last year), they would also prefer to remain something homogenous and keep the majority, metizo population. unemployment is already at 12% so new people will come for jobs that arnt there and that the citizens of paraguay need.its pretty simple stuff fruitloop. dont try and tell them how to set policy when you are from another country.
BelindaKoe Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Mate these guys are more Aussie than most of us born in Australia in the last 20 years. They are hard working from the land and stright down the line. Unlike most Aussies now who live in the city and have lost their Aussie roots through modern "muticultured living" which is doing nothing but weaking our culture.I say let them come to their home away from home!...They are more Aussie than most of the immigrants in Australia now who claim to be Aussie but don't even speak English!
chiso83 Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - Let them comeBetter then a bunch of spoilt Koreans and Chinese
saintfletcher Says:
Jul 26, 2008 - I've heard of this story before. I think they were also called the Utopians. Paraguay would have made sense in the 1890s, we forget how bad Australia's economy was, and how little it had. Blessings +++ The Saint +++