Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. It seems extraordinary that a country with such a long and fascinating history that dates back thousands of years only became the country as we know it today just 150 years ago. It is the land of the Vatican, the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church and the country of Julius Caesar, Marco Polo, Leonardo De Vinci, Michelangelo, Christopher Columbus and so many other historical figures. From science to art, to music and fashion, construction, manufacturing, food and sport, Italy has a proud record.

It was on 17 March 1861 that Giuseppe Garibaldi united the separate regions which today make up Italy. The month of June is also significant for Italy because it was on 2 June 1946 that Italy became a republic. Since 1946, the second of June has been celebrated by Italians around the world as the Festa della Republica. In Italy and around the world Italians are this year, understandably, celebrating the 150th anniversary of unification and, in doing so, are celebrating the Italian contribution to world affairs and the Italian culture and identity.

Australia has its own story to tell about Italian migration. Almost 880,000 Australians are of Italian heritage and they can be found in most parts of the country. Whilst the majority came to Australia post World War II, Italians can be traced right back to the arrival of Captain Cook in 1770. Two of his crew members were Italian-American, Giacomo Matra and Antonio Ponto. Matraville in Sydney is named after Giacomo Matra. There were also Italians amongst the First Fleet arrivals led by Captain Arthur Phillip, and the Italian Raffaele Carboni was one of the leaders of the Eureka Stockade. He later wrote a book about the stockade. The onsite work on this house, the national parliament, was directed by Italian architect Romaldo Giurgola.

The ties between Australia and Italy have always been strong and they continue to be. Notably, the Australian Governor-General, Her Excellency Quentin Bryce, was one of the few world leaders invited by the Italian government to participate in the 150th anniversary celebration events in Italy earlier this month. Her Excellency reciprocated and reinforced those ties by attending.

Italian influence in Australian life can be detected in so much of what we see and do. There are few places in Australia where people of Italian origin have not settled. From the fishermen of Fremantle in Western Australia and Port Pirie in South Australia, to the canegrowers of Queensland, the horticulture and agricultural settlements of the Murray-Darling Basin, or to opal mining at Coober Pedy, Italians have quickly adapted to their new homeland, embraced the Australian lifestyle and contributed to Australia's growth and prosperity. The cultural differences highlighted in John O'Grady's book They're a Weird Mob, written under the pseudonym 'Nino Culotta' and subsequently adapted into a classic movie of the same name in 1966, have today largely disappeared. Pizza, pasta and cappuccinos are today as much Australian as they are Italian. From the concrete and terrazzo workers of the fifties and sixties, today Italians can be found in business, trades, farming, academia, music, sport, design, the arts, restaurants, law, medicine, the sciences and even politics.

I briefly turn to the Italian people of South Australia. Almost 100,000 South Australians claim Italian ancestry. The City of Adelaide has a large Italian population as have country regions like the South Australian Riverland, Port Pirie and Mount Gambier. Italian Australians identify not only with their heritage but also with the Italian region from which they originate. Hardly a weekend passes when an Italian religious festival, celebrating a specific region of Italy and usually associated with the patron saint of that region, is not taking place in Adelaide or somewhere else in South Australia. Each year, the Italian Carnivale is held in Adelaide, where thousands of people come to celebrate Italian food and entertainment.

Italians are enterprising and very good at supporting each other. Throughout South Australia are located numerous social and sports centres, welfare services, aged care residential facilities, and literary and music groups that have been established to assist Italian Australians with their life in Australia. An Italian chamber of commerce exists in Adelaide. In my electorate of Makin, the Campania Sports and Social Club, the Italian Benevolent Foundation, which provides aged-care accommodation and aged-care services, and the Northern Italian Coordinating Committee are prime examples of such organisations.

One of the most successful and valuable initiatives of the South Australian Italian community was the establishment 30 years ago of Radio Televisione Italiana of South Australia, a 24-hour seven-days-a-week community-owned Italian radio broadcasting service. The radio station not only provides entertainment to the elderly housebound Italians who have limited English language understanding but also invaluable information services from government information to medical, legal, financial, travel advice and so much more to help listeners. I take this opportunity to acknowledge and commend the entire team at Radio Italia, led by its president Don Totino and its program director, Giovanni Di Malta. I also acknowledge tonight the contribution of Italian Australians in the development of our country and to Australian life.