National Library of Australia - Home page
NLA News - home November 2003 Volume XIV Number 2
Ethnic Presses: the Europeans in Ausralia, 1950s-1960s

In the first of a two-part series, Barry York discusses the Library’s collection of ethnic community newspapers

A black and white photograph of members of the Phoenician Club in Sydney reading the Maltese Herald, by John Tanner
John Tanner
The Maltese Herald is always available to the members of the Phoenician Club in Sydney [c.1970]
AIS photograph
Pictures Collection, nla.pic-an24958019

This is the first of two articles investigating the National Library’s collections of ethnic community newspapers. The present instalment focuses on the 1950s and 1960s, when large numbers of newcomers from European countries settled in Australia, and focuses on two examples: the Polish and the Maltese presses.

The National Library has about 8000 newspaper titles in its Newspaper Collection. The majority are no longer published, but there are more than 700 current Australian titles and more than 400 overseas ones. Each title can run into thousands of editions, so the collection is indeed vast. The newspapers are held in various forms: originals in hard copy, microform (fiche and film), CD-ROM and online.

Given that newspapers reflect conditions and developments in society, the Library has had to ensure that the broadest possible approach is taken to deciding which titles are collected. As a result, the collection is a diverse one. For the purposes of this article, ‘ethnic press’ refers to those newspapers produced by or for communities whose members are from non-English-speaking backgrounds.

It must be said at the outset that Australia has had local ethnic newspapers for much longer than the past 50 years. The local foreign language press dates back to the 1840s. The Library has titles such as the Jewish Voice of Jacob, which was published by G. Moss of Sydney in 1842, Australian Israelite (Ha-Isra’li), which ran from 1871 to 1875, the French Le Courier Australien, which began in 1892 and continues today, and the Hellenic Herald (Panellinios kirikas), which started in 1926 and continues as the Greek Herald (Ellinikos kirikas).

A colour photograph of a kiosk in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne with ethnic newspapers
Ethnic newspapers are prominent on this kiosk in Elizabeth Street, Melbourne
AIS photograph
Pictures Collection, nla.pic-an24958075

The period after World War 2 is the most important, though, because it was then that Australia experienced an unprecedented increase in the number of settlers from non-English-speaking backgrounds. In 1947, 10 per cent of the Australian population was born overseas, and 81 per cent of the overseas-born were from the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries. By 1961, 17 per cent were born overseas and less than half from the main English-speaking countries.

To give a few examples: in 1947, there were 34 000 Italian-born persons in Australia but by 1961 the number had increased to 228 000. Virtually in the space of a decade, the Greek-born population increased from 12 000 to 77 000, the Malta-born from 3200 to 39 000, the Dutch-born from 2000 to 102 000, the Germans from 15 000 to 109 000 and the Poles from 6500 to 60 000.

The ethnic press reflects the patterns of immigration and is a vital source in the plotting of community histories. The two decades after World War 2 experienced a significant increase in the number of local publications produced by or for European communities, whereas the period from the mid-1970s and 1980s is characterised by the emergence of publications of newcomers from the Asian and Middle-Eastern regions. These groups were previously excluded from permanent settlement under the ‘White Australia Policy’.

A black and white photograph of Lino Vella, editor of the Maltese Herald, with one of his printing staff in 1975 by John Tanner
John Tanner
Lino Vella, editor of The Maltese Herald, with one of his printing staff in 1975
AIS photograph
Pictures Collection, nla.pic-an24957924

Ethnic community organisations were established in the preferred suburbs of settlement of most migrants after World War 2. Ethnic newspapers were part of this development but were usually published as business ventures, often administered by individuals who had been journalists, writers or editors back home.

In the 1950s and 1960s, business people and professionals who belonged to a particular community were a source of sponsorship and the early newspapers provide good leads into the businesses the new arrivals established and the professions they entered. Typical advertisements offered a range of services, from lawyers and tradesmen, real estate and travel agents, to food suppliers. The sponsors did well, as the growing migrant communities usually felt more comfortable dealing with someone who spoke their own language. In the 1970s, with the rise of official multiculturalism, government bodies also began supporting the ethnic media, mainly through the purchase of space to advertise services.

For the period prior to the abolition of the ‘White Australia Policy’ in 1973, the Library holds about 300 titles of Australian newspapers and other periodicals published by about 35 different ethnic groups. Many of these titles are discontinued, but some soldier on. Those older than 40, include Il Globo, Neos Kosmos, Wiadomosci Polski (Polish News) and The Maltese Herald. The sad reality is that the communities of migrants of 1950s and 1960s vintage are now in a state of decline. Unreplenished by fresh immigration since the 1970s, communities like the Italians, Greeks, Poles and Maltese are top-heavy with elderly people. For how much longer will their publications be viable?

The masthead of The Voice of the Maltese in Australia and Farmers’ Advocate Weekly (Brisbane: Charles G. Parnis)
The masthead of The Voice of the Maltese in Australia and Farmers’ Advocate Weekly (Brisbane: Charles G. Parnis), vol. 5, no. 17 (July 21, 1934)

The major holdings for the pre-1970s era are titles published by Jews, Italians, Greeks and Poles. These account for more than half the 300 titles but there are also several each for the Germans, Hungarians, Serbs, Maltese and Croatians. Some are bilingual, though the English-language component is secondary.

The Polish and Maltese publications in the Newspaper Collection are a good example of the range and quality of the ethnic newspapers held. They reveal many features in common with other 1950s–1960s ethnic groups. The content is similar in that there is news from the homeland, reports of Australian national and local affairs, and coverage and promotion of the community’s activities. The Polish–Australian press of the period is more political than its Maltese counterpart, reflecting the anti-communism of the postwar Poles. Both ethnic presses have a lively history, with many short-lived ventures along the way.

Cover of the Muses’ Magazine: A Monthly Review of the Musical, Artistic, Literary Scientific and Intellectual Life of Queensland (Brisbane)
Cover of the Muses’ Magazine: A Monthly Review of the Musical, Artistic, Literary Scientific and Intellectual Life of Queensland (Brisbane), no. 1 (1 Nov. 1929)

The Polish–Australian press also reflects different phases of group immigration. The Maltese experienced one main wave of mass migration to Australia, from 1948 to the early 1960s and developed into the 1970s through the consolidation of settlement of those migrants. The Poles, however, experienced two principal waves: the period from 1947 to 1955, when nearly 72 000 Poles, mainly ex-servicemen, were assisted to Australia as ‘displaced persons’, and the early 1980s, when about 15 000 supporters of the Solidarity movement were admitted after the Polish Government imposed martial law against them. There are two distinct generations of Polish–Australian publications, whereas the Maltese have had only one viable national newspaper.

The Polish and Maltese newspapers also reveal the historical nature of the Library’s ethnic press collections. The Library holds the Brisbane monthly Muses’ Magazine, which, in the late 1920s, published a Polish Page (Stronica Polska) in English and Polish. It was edited by the president of Kolonia Polska, the Polish Association of Queensland.

The earliest Maltese–Australian publication in the collection dates back to 1929. Maltese and English and Maltese Educational Publications: Publicazioni Educativa bil Malti u bl’Inglis u bil Malti was published for the Maltese market-gardening community around what is today Holroyd, in Sydney. The Library also holds a copy of The Voice of the Maltese in Australia and Farmers’ Advocate Weekly, dated 21 July 1934, published in Brisbane by an enigmatic Maltese journeyman, Charles Parnis.

As with many other ethnic press titles, the Library’s collections are not always complete. There are missing issues and it is worth mentioning at this point that the Library is part of a National Plan for Australian Newspapers (NPLAN), which seeks to locate, acquire, preserve and make accessible all the newspapers ever published in Australia. This is a cooperative initiative of all seven state libraries and of the National Library of Australia.

The Polish and Maltese holdings are certainly representative, if not always complete. The national newspapers Polish News and Polish Weekly are held, as is The Maltese Herald.

According to Marian Kaluski, in his chapter in Abe Ata and Colin Ryan’s edited collection, The Ethnic Press in Australia (1989), the Polish News was first published in 1942 by the Polish Consul in Sydney. It ceased in 1945 but was revived by the Polish Democratic Society in 1946. In 1951 it was taken over by the Polish Association of New South Wales, who ran it for more than 25 years. The Polish Weekly began as Tygodnik Katolicki (Catholic Weekly) in 1949. Based at the Bathurst migrant camp, it was started by a Polish priest, and in 1965 changed its name and placed less emphasis on religion.

The Maltese Herald has been the Maltese community’s national newspaper since 1961 but during its 42-year reign there have been other noteworthy papers, which are also held by the Library. These include the Voice of Malta, the Times of Malta and Australia, The Malta Cross, and Il Maltija. The latter was published by a Maltese community organisation, the Maltese Community Council of Victoria, during the 1990s.

There are also copies of earlier postwar presses, such as The Maltese News, which is held for 1951 and 1952. The Maltese News ran from 1944 to 1953 and was produced by the Maltese Social Society, an organisation established in Melbourne in 1934. Other 1950s holdings are The New Settler and Malta, both published by the Maltese Settlers Association, and Lehen il Malti, and Malta News.

Polish publications of 1950s and 1960s vintage in the collection include Glos Polski, which was published by the Polish Association of Victoria, and Przeglad Katolicki (Polish Catholic Review). From the 1970s, the collection includes Nasz Misjonarz and Kurier Polski and from the 1980s, Suwewnnosc, Tu I Tam, and the Perth-based Kurier Zachodni.

The pattern of immigration into Australia changed in the 1970s. The proportion of permanent settlers arriving from the Asian region increased greatly, mainly due to the intake of refugees from Indo-China after 1975, and, as shall been seen in the second instalment to this series, this diversification of intake is reflected in the ethnic press of the 1980s and 1990s.

BARRY YORK is a researcher and writer. His email address is: garocon@pcug.org.au

Back to NLA News Index Back to November Issue Back to NLA Home Page
NLA News - home

To order a particular issue of the NLA News e-mail nlasales@nla.gov.au
or join the Friends of the National Library of Australia and receive a copy each month by mail.