Post-war immigration to Australia deals with migration to Australia since the end of World War 2. In the immediate aftermath of World War 2, Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (1945-1949), established the federal Department of Immigration to administer a large-scale immigration program. Chifley commissioned a report on the subject which found that Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development and it recommended a 1 nnual increase in population through increased immigration.