Brazilians in Australia a Snapshot of Brazilian Migration to Victoria
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Brazilians in Australia a snapshot of Brazilian migration to Victoria Luciana Fraguas “ To all the volunteers who have supported us over the past 12 years, to our members who believed in our work, and for those pioneers who came, conquered and departed. To all of them we dedicate this work and hope new pioneers will continue to build our community in Victoria.” Abrisa Committee – 2014 Brazilians in Australia a snapshot of Brazilian migration to Victoria Luciana Fraguas ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Concept: Alba Chliakhtine Journalist/Editor: Luciana Fraguas Graphic Designer: Clarice Trevisan Project Coordinator: Roseli Diniz Journalists/Contributors: Denise Frizzo, Natalia Ballotin, Cátia Nunes, Suzana Alvarenga, Peta Farquhar and Gefferson Heemann Proof readers: Amelia Cooper and Nicole Daws Photos: Alexandre Barreto and Thaise Zimmermann Antonio Rodrigues photograph: courtesy of Hazel Benini All other images: Interviewees and Abrisa’s volunteers personal archives Supported by: ExxonMobil Australia (Volunteer Involvement Program Grant) The University of Melbourne Brazilians in Australia – A snapshot of Brazilian Migration to Victoria ISBN 978-0-646-92127-3 4 BRAZILIANS IN AUSTRALIA Contents 4/NOTE FROM ALBA CHLIAKHTINE 6/NOTE FROM LUCIANA FRAGUAS 8/ BRAZILIANS IN AUSTRALIA – A BRIEF HISTORY 13/ A POPULATION THAT HAS TRIPLED IN THE LAST 20 YEARS 16/THE CULTURA BRASILEIRA PROGRAM 18/LIVING AND WORKING IN VICTORIA 19/INTERVIEWS 52/REFERENCES Our history started in 1871 and continues today with many Brazilians calling Australia home. In Victoria we were “a dozen” then and became Note from 2,013 over the past century. Alba Chliakhtine Abrisa’s Executive Officer 6 BRAZILIANS IN AUSTRALIA When a friend handed me the book All of Us (a collection as Degraves Lane attract our visitors and make the city of interviews with Brazil-born Victorian migrants), I was look even more special. surprised to find out how culturally diverse our state was. With only a small Brazilian population in Melbourne, I knew very little about Australia when I made the we used to get together in small groups to celebrate our decision to leave Brazil for Melbourne in 1988. heritage. It was not until 2002, we saw the need for an official group and thus Abrisa, the Brazilian Association All of Us was a catalyst for the idea of Brazilians in for Social Development and Integration in Australia, Australia, a snapshot of Brazilian migration to Australia. was created. Its main purpose is to welcome and support In putting this book together we tried to capture newly arrived Brazilians as well as celebrating our a snapshot of the Brazilian community living in heritage through music, art and cuisine. one of the most culturally and linguistically diverse places in the world. We wanted to show how our lives In recognition of more than 10 years of Abrisa, a group had changed, not just through the migration process, of us, journalists, photographers, designers, editors and but also through living many years in a city that many other volunteers, decided to create this book as transformed both itself and us. a contribution to the story of migration to this country. Of course this would not have been possible without the The Brazilian history in Victoria started in 1871 and willing participation of the interviewees involved. continues today with many Brazilians calling Australia home. In Victoria we were a “dozen” then, and became With Brazilians in Australia we celebrate more than 2,013 over the past century. 10 years of Abrisa and recognise the many people who helped build our community. We would also like Some of us who have been here for a long time and to express our gratitude to the Federal Government, have seen the transformation of a city that in the 1960’s Victorian Government (OMAC), the City of Melbourne was home for predominantly Anglo-Saxon migrants and other local government councils who have supported to a vibrant metropolis voted the “most liveable city” our efforts throughout the past 12 years. in the world. Finally, after 25 years in Australia, my story continues! I still remember, soon after my arrival in 1988, sitting As I grab my cappuccino every morning on my opposite the National Museum of Victoria and writing way to work at Madame Brussels’ Lane, I have a sense letters to friends. Back then, seeing the small number of of joy – not just for the taste and energy the Italian people in the city during the weekends gave me a sense beverage gives me, but also a sense of pride I feel of emptiness and longing, as I had left behind a crowded in conquering my dreams in a city that embraced Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais in Brazil. so many cultural groups. During the 1990s, I saw the first few “alfresco” cafés This is my story, but in the following pages you will read sprouting long the Southbank area. Melbourne was about many other Brazilians, who left everything behind developing in charm in areas beyond the known tourist to start a whole new story. haunts such as Lygon Street. Today special spots such BRAZILIANS IN AUSTRALIA 7 What makes people leave everything behind and look elsewhere for what Note from they perceive as a better life? Luciana Fraguas Journalist 8 BRAZILIANS IN AUSTRALIA The history of Brazilian migration to Victoria is not I would, however, like to thank specifically the recent; the Victorian census recorded 45 Brazilians three journalists and contributors who helped with living in the state as early as 1871. It is believed that the interviews: Denise Frizzo, Natalia Ballotin and these brave new migrants may have come to Australia Cátia Nunes. The text was proof read by the amazing on board English ships that stopped at Rio de Janeiro Amelia Cooper and Nicole Daws, great admirers on their way to Australia. of the Brazilian culture and way of life. What were their hopes and dreams? What were they I would like to thank Suzana Alvarenga for helping looking for when they jumped on those ships? These me track down and identify some of the “characters” are perennial questions. They were asked back then, who arrived in the early waves of migration (1950’s and are still being asked today. and 1960’s) and Peta Farquhar, who sourced all the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data. What makes people leave everything behind in their home country and look elsewhere for what they perceive I also want to thank Alba Chliakhtine, Abrisa’s as a better life? Is it a desire for the unknown or an Executive Officer, who invited me to work on this project adventure? Or it is just an unsettling feeling of wanting and was enthusiastic from day one. Many thanks to to explore the world and travel away from the country Clarice Trevisan, the “master” graphic designer, who put of your birth? our ideas on paper and gave them life. Roseli Diniz was a major driving force behind it all and was fundamental The reasons were unclear (and one could say they to making it happen. still are). The fact remains, however, that Brazilians kept coming to Australia. But most of all a big thank to our 29 interviewees, who generously shared their stories and opened their houses This book is about the Brazilians who came and decided (and hearts) to us. In the course of transcribing their to stay. They are immigrants who made a difference interviews in the most accurate way, many of them in the lives of others and who worked and contributed were contacted a number of times, and all of them were to their new communities while adapting to their country in touch with us over a period of more than two years. of choice. It also presents statistical data that may help us They never wavered and were always happy to answer form a more accurate picture of the Brazilian migration questions and talk to us. to Victoria and Australia in recent years. Finally, I would like to thank my husband Peter and my This publication is the result of a project initiated by children Alexis and Marcus as I wouldn’t have been able the Brazilian Association for Social Development and to deliver this project without their love and support. Integration in Australia (Abrisa). It was born out of a need by the growing Brazilian community in Victoria to be acknowledged and have their stories documented. It was only made possible by the combined efforts of volunteers, who helped throughout the process of putting this document together. BRAZILIANS IN AUSTRALIA 9 BRAZILIANS IN AUSTRALIA – A BRIEF HISTORY BRAZIL-BORN AUSTRALIANS IN NUMBERS The researcher James Jupp, in his There is also some evidence of earlier started under the Australian Government’s major work The Australian People: Brazilian migration in the seventeenth assisted migration program in the late An Encyclopaedia of the Nation, wrote and eighteenth centuries, but the first 1960’s and early 1970’s. about the first pieces of evidence of the registered records of Brazilians migrating earliest Brazilian interest in Australia. to Australia became available only at the With the Commonwealth Government’s turn of the twentieth century. refugee and humanitarian programs “ When Captain Phillip and the ships in the 1980’s, the number of Brazilians of the First Fleet were docked in In 1891, the Australian Bureau of in Victoria rose to 550 in 1991. This Rio de Janeiro, en route to Australia, Statistics (ABS) listed 52 Brazil-born growth continued to the end of the a Portuguese soldier stationed in immigrants living in Victoria, nearly twentieth century. Brazil boarded Phillip’s ship Sirius half of the total of 105 Brazilians living and requested that he be allowed in Australia in 1901.