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The call of Australia: From early Cingalese to recent migration-By Earlson Forbes Source:Sundaytimes Ceylonese/Sri Lankans have entered Australia for a variety of reasons during the past one and a half centuries, early arrivals going as far back as the last two decades of the 19th century. Before Australian Federation on January 1, 1901, there is evidence of arrivals from Ceylon, mainly to Queensland and a small number to Victoria and Western Australia. In 1882, a sizable number of Ceylonese arrived in Queensland as indentured labour. With the expansion of sugar cane planting in Queensland at that time, there was an ever-present need for labour to work the plantations. In November 1882, nearly 500 Ceylonese arrived by sea in Mackay, Queensland. Some 300 disembarked in Mackay and the rest were taken to Bundaberg. They had been brought to Queensland under a private arrangement between business agents in Ceylon and Queensland plantation ...