The evolving platypus

摘要

WHO ARE TODAY'S Australians? Not yesterday's. Most of them are of either British or Irish stock, and the city centres still teem with Britons, who remain the biggest group of migrants. Even so, immigration from places other than the British Isles has transformed the nation. Over 26% of Australia's 22m population were born abroad, compared with 21% in Canada, 14% in America and 10% in Britain. And, until 2009, Australia was welcoming more and more people each year: net immigration (the definition is confusing) rose from about 160,000 in 2004 to over 300,000 in 2008, though two-thirds of those were classed as temporary migrants. Many, however, will eventually be given the right to stay, as thousands of students and asylum-seekers have been.