The Bush Orphanage is a story in two parts. Part I is the personal life story of John Hawkins, who as a seven-year-old British orphan, was sent to Australia as part of the British Child Migration Scheme, despite having a loving foster family in London who desperately wanted to adopt him.
In Australia, John spent his childhood in the custody of church camp administrators, only occasionally enjoying the comfort of weekend stays with a foster family in the suburbs of Perth. His childhood was defined by his experiences in Tardun Boys Home - and the larrikins, eccentrics, saints and sinners he encountered there.
Despite the harsh experience of group foster care, John went on to marry, start a family and develop a successful business. But the memories of his mother and of his foster family in England inspired him to find out exactly why he'd been stolen from them and from his homeland.
Part II is an overview of the British Child Migration Scheme. It examines the facts regarding the complicity of British and Australian governments who shirked their legal and moral responsibility for the lives of child migrants and, in doing so, negated the common misconception that the genuine but misguided authorities in Britain and Australia were driven by benevolence and goodwill to give children a fresh start in life.
It is also a story of the churches and secular organisations that took part in child migration, and ultimately have taken the blame for the tragedy
. Included in the book is controversial new research revealing how scandals and corruption set the Child Migration scheme up for failure before it even began. The true story of how child migration became the greatest childcare disaster in Australian history.
