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Immigration History from Malta to Victoria

The first Maltese to arrive in Australia were convicts, transported in the 1810s for deserting their British regiments. Malta was then a British colony.

The first free settler, Antonio Azzopardi, arrived in Melbourne in 1837 and became a successful businessman, but few Maltese followed in his footsteps. By 1881, the Malta-born population of Victoria was only 73. This was in spite of the fact that emigration was vital to Malta, a small, resource-poor country, and Britain encouraged emigration as part of a strategy of populating the Empire with white British subjects.

Britain’s intentions conflicted with Australia’s 1901 Immigration Restriction Act, which kept the number of Maltese arrivals low in the early 20th century. During World War I Maltese immigration was severely restricted, and a quota system for Maltese immigrants was introduced in 1920. International pressure resulted in the quota being raised in 1923, and 395 Malta-born people lived in Victoria by 1933.

In 1948 an assisted passage agreement was signed with Malta, the first such agreement Australia had made with any country other than Britain. This resulted in large numbers of arrivals, peaking in the 1950s. By 1966, the Malta-born population of Victoria was 26,452.

Since the mid-1970s there have been far fewer immigrants from Malta, and the number of Malta-born Victorians has declined slowly. In 2016, Victoria had the largest Malta-born population in Australia, with a total of 17,872 people. Maltese was spoken at home by 63% of community members, while most others spoke English.

Today, the community is concentrated in Sunshine and Keilor. They are evenly spread across the employment spectrum. Almost everyone in the community is Catholic, and the church has played a vital role since the early years of settlement. Many other organisations in Victoria also help to maintain the rich legacy of Maltese history, language, music and religion, coordinated by the Maltese Community Council of Victoria.

Immigration History from Malta (Maltese) to Victoria

L-ewwel Maltin li waslu l-Awstralja kienu ħabsin, ittrasportati kmieni fis-seklu dsatax talli abbandunaw ir-reġimenti Brittaniċi tagħhom. Dak iż-żmien Malta kienet kolonja Brittanika.

L-ewwel persuna li ssetilja minn jeddu, Antonio Azzopardi, wasal f’Melbourne fl-1837 u sar kummerċjant li għamel suċċess, imma ftit kienu l-Maltin li mxew fuq il-passi tiegħu. Sal-1881, il-popolazzjoni f’Victoria ta’ dawk li twieldu f’Malta kienet biss ta’ 73. Dan minkejja l-fatt li l-emigrazzjoni kienet vitali għall-Malta, pajjiż żgħir, b’riżorsi fqar u l-Gran Brittanja inkoraġġiet l-emigrazzjoni bħala parti minn strateġija li żżid il-popolazzjoni fl-Imperu b’sudditi Brittaniċi bojod.

L-intenzjonijiet Brittaniċi kienu f’konflitt mal-Att ta’ Restrizzjoni tal-Immigrazzjoni tal-1901 tal-Awstralja, li żamm in-numru ta’ Maltin li jaslu l-Awstralja baxx kmieni fis-seklu għoxrin. Waqt l-Ewwel Gwerra Dinjija l-immigrazzjoni Maltija kienet ristretta ħafna, u sistema ta’ kwota għall-immigranti Maltin kienet introdotta fl-1920. Pressjoni internazzjonali tat riżultat biex il-kwota tiżdied fl-1923, u 395 persuna mwielda Malta kienu jgħixu f’Victoria sal-1933.

Fl-1948 ftehim għal passaġġ assistit kien iffirmat ma’ Malta, l-ewwel ftehim ta’ din ix-xorta li l-Awstralja għamlet ma’ xi pajjiż ieħor barra l-Gran Brittanja. Dan irriżulta f’numru kbir ta’ wasliet ta’ Maltin li laħaq il-qofol tiegħu fis-snin ħamsin tas-seklu għoxrin. Sal-1966, il-popolazzjoni f’Victoria ta’ dawk li twieldu f’Malta kienet 26,452.

Sa min-nofs is-snin sebgħin tas-seklu għoxrin kien hemm ħafna anqas immigranti li waslu minn Malta, u n-numru ta’ dawk li twieldu f’Malta li joqogħdu f’Victoria naqas bil-mod. Fl-2011, Victoria kellha l-akbar popolazzjoni fl-Awstralja ta’ dawk li twieldu f’Malta, b’total ta’ 19,728 persuna. Il-Malti kien mitkellem id-dar minn 63% tal-membri tal-komunitá, waqt li l-biċċa l-kbira tal-oħrajn kienu jitkellmu bl-Ingliż.

Illum, il-komunitá hija ikkonċentrata f’Sunshine u f’Keilor. Il-Maltin huma mifruxa f’kull qasam tax-xogħol. Kważi kulħadd fil-komunitá huwa Kattoliku, u l-knisja kellha rwol vitali sa minn kmieni l-issetiljar tal-Maltin fl-Awstralja. Ħafna organizzazzjonijiet oħra f’Victoria, jgħinu wkoll biex jinżamm il-wirt sinjur tal-istorja Maltija, il-lingwa, il-mużika u r-reliġjon, taħt il-koordinazzjoni tal-Kunsill Malti ta’ Victoria.