Frank and Maria had lived in Italy their whole life. They had 4 children under the age of 8. Frank had worked so hard his entire life to earn not a lot of money. He would go to work in the fields to grow crops to sell, along with farming chickens. The produce he didn’t sell he would bring home to feed his family. Maria stayed home to look after her four children and looked after all the jobs around the house.

One day their family home collapsed as it was so run down and poorly built and there was no money to repair it. They had no idea what they were going to do. Leuca, Franks older brother had moved to Australia with his family a few years earlier. Frank wrote a letter to his big brother looking for advice. Sometime later Leuca replied. He wrote back and this is what it said

“You don’t need to worry. I will send 6 boat tickets to come to Australia to live here. Life is much better here, and you will be able to make more money and give your family more opportunities.”

The year was 1967. Luckily for Frank and Maria the Australian Government led by Harold Holt at the time, had removed the White Australia Policy that had been in place since 1901. This new law allowed all migrants to enter the country and have the same rules as others wanting to become citizens. The time came for the family to pack up and say goodbye to those they loved and a country that was -