Australian American

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Australian American
Total population
60,965
Regions with significant populations
California, Hawaii, New York

An Australian American is a naturalized American citizen with a significant relationship to Australia, such as by being born in Australia, by holding Australian citizenship, or being a descendant of people from Australia.

The first wave of emigration from Australia to the United States came in the 1850s California Gold Rush when mostly Irish migrants who had escaped the Great Irish Famine had previously worked on the Australian goldfields. The story of Australian American population almost follows the story of both British Americans and Irish Americans, as Australia was a British political territory at the time when they first emigrated and most of the settlers were Irish. In San Francisco the "Sydney Ducks" as they were known, were in violent conflict with nativist locals. Transpacific immigration then dried up while the American Civil War waged. It picked up during the period of reconstruction, but faltered again when Australia was hit by a depression in the late 1890s.

Immigration to the United States peaked in the years following World War Two, due to America's increased economic activity, and the exodus of 15,000 Australian war brides who married US servicemen. From 1971 to 1990 more than 86,400 Australians and New Zealanders immigrated to the United States.[1]

Contents 1 Demographics 2 Notable Australian Americans 2.1 Business 2.2 Public Service 2.3 Politics 2.4 Writers 2.5 Scientists 2.6 Artists 2.7 Sport 2.8 Music 2.9 Actors 2.10 Other

[edit] Demographics

At the 2000 Census 60,965 Australian born people were enumerated in the United States, of which 15,315 were citizens. Around 40% of Australian Americans had entered the United States before 1980.[2]

[edit] Notable Australian Americans

[edit] Business

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Jacques Nasser	1947-	former CEO of Ford Motors	born Lebanon but raised in Australia	lived in US as CEO of major US company
Rupert Murdoch	1931-	CEO of News Corporation	born Australia	in 1985 Murdoch became a naturalized citizen of the United States

[edit] Public Service

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Martin Indyk	1951-	former US Ambassador to Israel	(British born, Australian raised)	US Governmental roles
John Henderson		blind activist	native of Australia	came to the U.S. with his parents as a child and settled there
James Wolfensohn	1933-	former president of the World Bank	born Australia	in 1980 became a naturalized citizen of the United States

[edit] Politics

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Harry Bridges	1901-1990	International Longshore and Warehouse Union leader	born Australia	became a naturalized US citizen in 1945

[edit] Writers

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Jill Ker Conway	1934-	writer	born Australia	works in US
Sumner Locke Elliott	1917-1991	writer of Careful, he might hear you	born Australia	moved to the United States in 1948 and obtained US citizenship in 1955

[edit] Scientists

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Paul D. Scully-Power	1944-	oceanographer and astronaut	born Australia	became a U.S. citizen in 1982
Andy Thomas	1951-	astronaut	born Australia	became a U.S. citizen in December 1986

[edit] Artists

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Pat Oliphant	1935-	New York Times cartoonist	born Australia	emigrated to the United States in 1964

[edit] Sport

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Taylor Dent	1981-	tennis	father is Australian	born United States

[edit] Music

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Flea	1962-	Red Hot Chilli Peppers bassist	born Australia	lived America from age 5
MC Lars	1982	rapper	father Australian	born America

[edit] Actors

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Leon Errol	1881-1951	vaudeville	born Australia	worked and died in America
George Lazenby	1939-	former Bond	born Australia	lived in America and owned real estate there
Anthony LaPaglia	1959-	Without a Trace actor	born Australia	lives and works in America
Mel Gibson	1956-	actor and director	moved to Australia when he was 12 years old and educated there, honorary Officer of the Order of Australia (he is not an Australian citizen)	born United States and holds dual citizenship in America and the Republic of Ireland
Tristan Rogers	1946-	General Hospital actor	born Australia	naturalized US citizen
Ann Richards	1917-2006	actress	born Australia	moved to the United States in 1942, worked and died there; father Anerican

[edit] Other

name	Born - Died	Notable for	Connection with Australia	Connection with America
Norbert Basil MacLean III	1971	U.S. Navy veteran who pioneered Supreme Court access for U.S. military personnel	dual citizen by descent	dual citizen by birth
Marsha Waggoner	1940-	champion poker player	born Australia	lived in America since 1977
Christopher Wilder	1945-1984	serial killer	born Australia	father American; emigrated to the United States in 1969