The National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour was the venue for a ceremony to mark the official unveiling of the newest additions to the ‘National Monument to Migration’. 160 migrants of Italian origin have had their names inscripted into the monument, originally known as the ‘Welcome Wall’. Australia’s National Monument to Migration commemorates those who have migrated from countries around the world and made Australia their new home.
The 160 names have been added to the existing 3,735 Italian names already featured on the monument, bringing the total to 3,895 migrants of Italian origin now represented on the piece.
Former Governor-General Sir William Deane presided over the official opening of the ‘Welcome Wall’ over 20 years ago and it was another Governor-General, the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC, who elevated the status of the ‘Welcome Wall’ by naming it ‘Australia’s National Monument to Migration’.
The Migrants being added to the National Monument to Migration were invited to an unveiling ceremony at the Australian National Maritime Museum on Sunday March 20th. The event, hosted by Presenter and Journalist Virginia Langeberg from SBS, involved a number of musicians and guest speakers including Museum volunteers and Community leaders from a diverse variety of backgrounds. The event attracted so many proud honourers and their families that it was extended into a second and third ceremony with the venue facilitating an ‘overflow’ space where the occasion was live streamed.
One of the honourers who attended the ceremony at the Australian National Maritime Museum was Michelino Macchione. More than 2 million migrants travelled to the island continent between 1945 and 1965. Mr Macchione was a part of the ‘second wave’ of post war immigration which consisted of those seeking employment and better living conditions in Australia. Mr Macchione travelled to Sydney in 1957 from Gizzeria, Catanzaro in Calabria aboard the ‘Roma’, bringing his skills as a master Tailor. Asked how he felt about having his name honoured on the Monument, Mr. Macchione said “Maybe they will find my name in a hundred years and know [that] I came to Australia”. He, along with all the other people named on the National Monument to Migration, will be remembered for their contributions to the most multicultural country on earth.
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