Unusual History : Why are there two thousand people of Australian descent in Paraguay?!

The Paraguay-Australian community where descendants of a failed utopian colony celebrate their Australian lineage and long for their ancestors’ homeland

Did you know that there are an estimated two thousand Paraguayans who can trace their lineage - or part of, at least - to a group of Australian émigrés who settled in the Latin American nation in 1893 to establish a socialist, utopian society?

The ‘New Australia’ failed colonial experiment was founded along the lines of a ‘whites-only, socialist utopia’ by William Lane and his followers as a result of being disillusioned with the trajectory of politics during the 1890s depression in the Australian colonies (still not yet an a united nation in its own right), setting about a fledgling colony whereby alcohol consumption and inter-marriage with the indigenous Guarani and Spanish-Paraguayan population would be forbidden. Interestingly among the aspiring colonials was a young Mary Gilmore - later becoming a renowned poet and writer (featured on Australia’s $10 note) - who taught children of the settlers. She - along with many others, including Lane himself - left within the first decade to return to Australia or elsewhere, such as New Zealand in Lane’s case.

The colonial experiment along its socialist ideals ultimately collapsed due to a number of reasons, particularly due to divisions over the ‘ideals’ of the colony - a lot of the newly arrived settlers were young males who weren’t fond of the teetotalling, no fornicating with the locals stipulations. Those enjoying a loosening of the rigidly of the settlement guidelines stayed in ‘New Australia’, now known as Nueva Londres (New London) - the descendants of the original settlers adopted this name after not hearing back from Australia over the recognition of their preferred name, Nueva Canberra.

Whereas, the most devoted socialists including Lane and Gilmore, subsequently set up their own settlement 35 kilometres further south-east at Cosme on the banks of the Pirapó River (before Lane and Gilmore left Paraguay altogether). Both settlements have ultimately well and truly assimilated into greater Paraguay albeit with some remnants of its Anglo-Australian history in the form of Anglo-Celtic surnames, some lingering traditions and the appearance of lighter hair and fairer skin among some of the descendants.

A large proportion of the descendants now live in the capital, Asuncion, but many still reside in the original settlements speaking almost exclusively Spanish and Guarani, living Paraguayan lives with lingering nineteenth century colonial Australian characteristics. Indeed, a point of contention among many of the descendants is the lack of recognition the Australian Government give to them and their unique history, not being granted any consideration in terms of Visas or assisted migration to Australia, which many long for.

But, why all those years ago did Paraguay allow Anglo-Celtic, racist, socialist, colonial Australians to settle in their country in the first place?

The answer to this question is in the aftermath of the devastating Paraguayan War where landlocked Paraguay took on its larger, more powerful neighbours: Brazil, Argentina, along with Uruguay; and were catastrophically defeated - ultimately losing not only 40% of their former territory but also the vast majority of their male population (some accounts record as much as 90% of the male population died as a result of the war - however this figure is disputed; nevertheless Paraguay suffered devastating loss of life during the war and its aftermath). Thus, Paraguay needed people - in particular, men - to repopulate their nation and weren’t terribly discriminate in who to invite as evidenced by inviting random Australian socialists, many of whom were openly racist with no intention of intermingling and inter-marrying the surrounding population - even though ultimately this is exactly what happened.

Curiously, Paraguay attracted other settlers from far-off lands including Japanese, Ukrainian, Mennonite, and even Aryan white supremist migrants - some of the descendants of which still shockingly espouse those views and longing for an Aryan German fatherland that doesn’t exist (albeit whilst speaking in Spanish).

Is the existence of Australian descendants in far-off, oft-forgotten Paraguay all that strange really given the foundation of European settlement in Australia itself came about from British colonisers forcefully taking indigenous Australian land in order to set up a penal colony in the opposite corner of the world?

It is a quirky piece of Australian history nonetheless and I do believe these descendants deserve greater recognition in their ancestors’ hometown particularly given that some of their ancestors voluntarily took part in World War I as part of the Australian war contingent. Whilst, in any measure Paraguayan, these descendants have tightly held onto their Australian links - no matter how tenuous they may now be - and should be appreciated, respected and recognised for such.