Mackay celebrates the uniting of Italy’s ‘tiny kingdoms’
Maltese and Italian descendants came together to reflect on the historic day and discuss what Mackay’s Maltese Corner bronze monument will look like.
Mackay
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Red and white checkered tablecloths and miniature Italian flags proudly decorated the tables at a Mount Pleasant Centre cafe on Tuesday morning.
Mackay and District Italian Association president Carmel Baretta said they were celebrating Italian National Day and Republic Day, which began on June 2, 1946.
“(There were) tiny kingdoms all over Italy, then eventually they came together and became a republic,” Mrs Baretta said.
“It’s the same as Australia Day, it’s the Italian people coming together as one.”
Mrs Baretta said the association had in a similar manner brought together fragmented segments of Mackay’s Italian and Maltese community over its eight years.
The group was now searching for a sculptor to fashion the bronze Maltese Corner monuments in the Mackay CBD.
“It’s a considerable amount of money but we’re looking at family sponsorship, just to give people a sense of ownership, and state and government grants,” Mrs Baretta said.
The Maltese descendant, whose husband Leo is of Italian descent, said the sculpture would symbolise the camaraderie shared between migrants, particularly in the early days of Mackay’s sugar industry.
“It was through helping each other that they prospered, working together,” she said.
She said Maltese migrants were hardworking and not shy of sourcing opportunities because of their landlocked origins, a product of family land being divided among children when the patriarch died.
“The people left (Malta) not because of political persecution, religious persecution, civil war — they only left because it wasn’t viable to live there because they couldn’t obtain employment or land.”
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Mrs Baretta explained men often had to leave their wives and children behind while they established a new life in Australia, with World War II separating some families for a decade.
“They had very little communication because there was no telephones, mail wasn’t getting through because of the war, so they had to survive as best as they could,” she said.
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