The newest major show opening in the National Library’s refurbished exhibition galleries on Friday is one everyone can relate to – a survey of the library’s collection of material relating to migrants, and aren’t we all migrants?

All, that is, except for Australia’s First People, as the exhibition acknowledges right from the start.

“Most, if not all of us, have a migration story in the family,” says Guy Hansen, director of exhibitions at the NLA. “The most recent census, conducted in 2021, tells us that more than half of Australians have at least one parent born overseas or were, themselves, born overseas.”

The Hopes & Fears: Australian Migration Stories is a chronological show that begins with the convict hulks in the Thames, shows us the multicultural make-up of the earliest convicts, then sweeps through Australian history to the Gold Rush, taking in the arrival of the Chinese – with a fascinating First Nation’s drawing of riots on the diggings in the 1850s.

Then there’s Federation, partly built on the Immigration Restriction Act (White Australia policy), the concept of “blackbirding” and the xenophobic fears of the Chinese and Japanese as expounded in The Bulletin.

A surprising inclusion, therefore is a “christening jacket” from a Chinese family in the early part of the century.

Moving into the 20th century and a different kind of immigration from the one on which the country was founded, we see shipping- line advertisements to attract immigrants, the beginnings of the concept of Australian citizenship, and lots of personal stories.

A gradual opening up of attitudes is seen with the advent of The Colombo Plan, The Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Scheme and the migrant influence on cafe society.

Much later, a more humanitarian approach is suggested in the acceptance (sometimes grudging) of the East Timorese, Kosovars and Vietnamese.

The contested bicentenary celebrations are dealt with in a show that goes right up to 2023 – you can’t get much more contemporary than that.

“We’ve tried to go for stories which are compelling” says Hansen, while his fellow curator Karen Schamberger says people can bring in their earphones and listen oral histories online.

The story is not done yet – multiculturalism continues to be contentious in some political circles.

But one thing’s for sure, as the poster which asserts “We are proud to be Wogs” shows, being a migrant is nothing to be ashamed of.

The Hopes & Fears: Australian Migration Stories, National Library of Australia, July 26-February 2.