Many Australians can trace family journeys to new lives in Australia. In this landmark work, Mark Cully tells the full story of immigration to Australia, from pre-colonial origins through colonisation, the gold rushes, the post-war immigration boom, the end of the White Australia policy, and the modern era of unbound temporary migration.

Rigorously researched, the book dismantles persistent myths, gives human faces to statistics, and maps the forces that transformed a distant colony into one of the world's most diverse societies. Cully traces how immigration has changed Australia, making it bigger, younger, richly diverse, less provincial and more powerful.

This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand where Australia came from, the fraught politics of immigration, and lessons for the future.

‘Essential reading, perfectly timed. One of the most important policy books of 2026.’ —George Megalogenis

‘Supported by an expert economist’s keen eye for detail and filled with scintillating facts, Waves of Plenty weaves individual stories against the backdrop of larger social, economic and political forces to show how the most pivotal periods of migration shaped our nation.’ —Alice Pung

‘Mark Cully’s detailed and lively account of the waves of migration that have shaped Australia provides new insights into our society, our economy and our place in the world. Written with a researcher’s head but a (migrant) writer’s heart, it goes beyond the numbers to highlight the richness of the migrant experience and contribution. Waves of Plenty is the best kind of history book – a joy to read.’ —Danielle Wood, chair of the Productivity Commission

‘The story of immigration is among the grandest of Australian grand narratives. This highly engaging history doubles as a shrewd appraisal of the claims of both boosters and detractors of the sometimes messy reality. It is a timely intervention in a persistently and increasingly contentious area of public policy, including in Australia – a nation inclined to complacent celebration of its comfortable self-image as multicultural success story.’ —Frank Bongiorno

Table of Contents
A note on language and the past
Introduction: Who do you think you are?
PART I: PEOPLING A NATION
1. From colonisation to terra felix
2. We will decide who comes to this country
PART II: SIX DECADES THAT CHANGED THE FACE OF AUSTRALIA
3. Expansion/dispossession – the 1830s
4. Upheaval – the 1850s
5. The walls go up – the 1890s
6. Bold experiment – the 1950s
7. Goodbye White Australia – the 1970s
8. Australia unbound – the 2000s
PART III: PERPETUALLY REMADE
9. How migrants fared in Australia
10. How migrants remade Australia
Conclusion: Lessons for the future
Appendix A: Making sense of Australian migration statistics
Appendix B: A timeline of Australian migration history
Acknowledgements
Notes
Selected references
Index