AFTER the Second World War, Australia began a campaign called ‘Populate or Perish’. The government believed that if Australia’s population didn’t grow rapidly enough we could be at risk of invasion from another country. To expand our numbers quickly, the government welcomed the arrival of migrants from many war-torn countries across Europe. Over the seven-year period this scheme was in place, nearly 171,000 immigrants arrived to begin a new life in Australia.

Italy had suffered greatly from the two world wars and many young Italians, particularly those from the countryside, found it hard to get work. Australia seemed like a great place to start a new life. Even though many of the Italian migrants arriving in Australia were uneducated, they were hard-working and lived simply to save money to buy their own houses and educate their children.

In Melbourne, it wasn’t uncommon for several families to share one small house, or to board with other Italians until they could afford to buy their own place. Carlton rapidly became a hub for the local Italian community. Many Italian entrepreneurs opened coffee shops and other businesses in Carlton to cater for the local Italian population. At that time the foods they imported seemed foreign and strange. Many Australians had never seen Parmesan cheese before and had certainly never seen a coffee machine. We have our Italian migrants to thank for introducing us to many of the wonderful foods we can now take for granted.