Editing Alick Downer (section)

==Political career==
[[File:AlexanderDowner1958.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Downer in 1958.]]
After the war, Downer joined the newly formed [[Liberal Party of Australia]], and in 1949 he was elected to the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] for the rural-based [[Division of Angas (1949–77)|Division of Angas]]. By invitation of the premier, [[Thomas Playford IV|Thomas Playford]], he joined the board of the [[Electricity Trust of South Australia]] for three years and the [[Art Gallery of South Australia|Art Gallery]] board where he remained for seventeen years until his appointment as [[High Commission of Australia, London|High Commissioner]].<ref>Downer, Alick (2012). ''The Downers of South Australia'', p. 124. Wakefield Press, Adelaide. {{ISBN|9781743051993}}</ref> He served as [[Minister for Immigration and Citizenship (Australia)|Minister for Immigration]] from 1958 to 1963. One of his first acts was to oversee the passage of the ''[[Migration Act 1958]]'',<ref>{{cite news|url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/hansard80/hansardr80/1958-05-01/0127/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf|title=Migration Bill 1958|work=[[Hansard]]|publisher=Parliament of Australia|date=1 May 1958}}</ref> which replaced the earlier ''[[Immigration Restriction Act 1901]]'' that had formed the basis of the [[White Australia policy]]. During his term in office, reforms to migration laws led to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of migrants, mostly from Britain and Europe, where new recruitment posts had been created. Many refugees were also accepted. As a result of his experience as a prisoner of war, he arranged for non-criminal deportees to be held in detention centres instead of being sent to jail.<ref>{{cite book |author= Hancock, I.R.  |url= http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/downer-sir-alexander-russell-alick-12434|title= Downer, Sir Alexander (Alick), 1910–1981|chapter= Downer, Sir Alexander Russell (Alick) (1910–1981)|date = 2007 |website= Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher= National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|accessdate= 2 May 2014 }}</ref>