Perth Voice Interactive

A NEW book is set to hit Freo’s shelves telling the tale of discrimination, hardship and resilience which intertwines the experiences of Italian and Croatian immigrants and their central involvement in the WA timber industry in the 20th century. 

Growing Roots – Italians and Croatians in the Development of the Western Australian Timber Industry addresses the “previously undocumented” experience of Mediterranean immigrants to WA. 

Freo-based author Christina Gillgren interviewed over 50 people as part of her PhD project in the 1990s and says the Croatian and Italian experiences are an “important” and part of WA’s history and economy. 

Tapestry

“The stories complement the tapestry of settlements in Western Australia, so that is why I think it’s so relevant to the history of WA,” Ms Gillgren said.

“It’s a story of which [the interviewees] narrate through their interviews, and a story which is part of the heritage of Western Australian settlement.

“There were other migrant groups, but in WA the majority were these two groups.”

The book details how employment for immigrants was limited to the goldmines, wood lines, and the timber industry.

“When I first interviewed them, many were reluctant, because in those days they grew up in the times where there was a lot of antagonism and prejudice and exploitation,” Ms Gillgren said.

“Despite the White Australia Policy, in 1923 the federal government had an agreement with Italy for migration and supposedly there were no restrictions, but the reality was very different.”

This was not limited to employment opportunities – the ability for Italian and Croatian immigrants to become citizens was also restricted. 

“It was only after the Second World War that they got Australian citizenship,” Ms Gillgren said.

“Until then, when you became naturalised, you became a British subject.

“Not only that, women, Australian women who married Italians or Croatians lost their citizenship, and it wasn’t until their husbands would become naturalised that they would get their citizenship back.”

At least 1200 Italians were also interned in camps during WWII despite many being naturalised, which Ms Gillgren says was “indiscriminate”. 

According to Ms Gillgren, many interviewees were reluctant to open up about the hardships and challenges of being first- and second-generation immigrants trying to establish themselves in Australia.

Opening up 

“These were their experiences in the ‘50s and ‘60s; when we moved into opening up Australia, a lot of the laws still not had changed sufficiently, so their experience was to be quiet and not talk about what they experienced,” Ms Gillgren said. 

“I asked them how they felt now, which was in 1990s, they were still very quiet and subdued, and they didn’t want to really talk about the really bad things that happened. 

“But after I switched off the interview tape, a lot more personal stories came out, of the things that happened to them.”

The book also details the “tug-of-war over the preservation and use of native forests” – a debate which Ms Gillgren says “still rages on today”.

Ms Gillgren says it was “important” to document the often-heartbreaking experiences of immigrants from Mediterranean countries to combat intergenerational shame of coming from a non-British background. 

“What particularly troubled me is how they felt they couldn’t speak about it and how the second generation almost didn’t want to own up to being Italian,” she said. 

“It’s only the third or fourth generations that are starting now to embrace that heritage…it broke my heart.

“Very few Australians know this story, and they don’t know how they changed, how Australia moved into multiculturalism.”

Growing Roots – Italians and Croatians in the Development of the Western Australian timber industry will be launched by mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge on June 14 at 5.30pm, at the Fremantle Italian Club. 

If you are unable to attend the launch and wish to purchase the book, email salinabooks@gmail.com 

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER