It was not smooth sailing for all migrants that arrived in Australia after WWII. George Henry Daniels arrived in Australia on 19th June 1949. He spent 3 days in Melbourne due to illness, and then travelled on to Queensland. While in Queensland, Mr Daniels was convicted of stealing cheques to the value of 143 pounds. He was fined 20 pounds and ordered to make restitution for the 143 pounds in the form of imprisonment for 3 months. It was noted that Mr Daniels had an extensive criminal history in the United Kingdom.
On 21 September 1951 the Minister signed deportation orders under section 8A of the Immigration Act. This advises that if a migrant is convicted of a criminal offence within 5 years of landing in Australia, they will be deported. On 22 September Mr Daniels was released from prison and disappeared. Mr Daniels was later apprehended in 1953 in Perth, and plans were quickly put into place to have him deported. By July 1953, Mr Daniels was on a vessel returning to the United Kingdom.
A note on Mr Daniels' file indicates that he returned to Australia in 1960, using another man’s name. There are no further records on his file to indicate if this was in fact the case.
