The Baháʼí Faith has a long history in Australia. The first known mention of events related to the history of the religion was several reports in Australian newspapers in 1846. After sporadic mentions a turning point was a mention of Australia by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, the son of the founder of the religion, in 1916 following which United Kingdom/American emigrants John and Clara Dunn came to Australia in 1920. They found people willing to convert to the Baháʼí Faith in several cities while further immigrant Baháʼís also arrived. The first Local Spiritual Assembly was elected in Melbourne followed by the first election of the National Spiritual Assembly in 1934. Iranian Baháʼís had first tried to emigrate to Australia in 1948 but were rejected as "Asiatic" by Australia's White Australia policy. Tho