ten pound tourist

Origin: From ten + unit of currency + tourist. An allusion to the immigrant′s contribution (in sterling) paid for passage to Australia under an assisted immigration scheme, the remainder being paid by the Australian government. The scheme operated from 1946 to 1982; in 1973 the immigrant contribution was increased to £75. The term tourist refers to the obligation (only) for participants to remain in Australia for two years; some elected to return after this time. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).