Malta on the Australian country map

The University of New England, in the city of Armidale, to the northeastern of NSW, the oldest regional university in Australia, was the venue of a weekend school study organised by the Country Women's Association about the Republic of Malta. The weekend was attended by about 200 delegates from around Australia.

Armidale, in the New England region, centrally located approximately halfway between Brisbane and Sydney, has a strong business focus. It is recognised as an educational and agricultural centre with a healthy mountain climate and robust arts and a multicultural community, combining a metropolitan capacity with a country lifestyle.

The Country Women's Association is the largest women's organisation in Australia and serves in almost every small country town and community across the nation, with a total membership of 35,000 members from 1,500 branches.

The weekend was officially opened with a flag-raising ceremony of both countries under the watchful eyes of the Vice Chancellor of the University of New England, Alan Pettigrew, the mayor of the City of Armidale, Dumaresq Council, Peter Ducat, the Consul General for Malta in NSW, Joanna Pisani, the eight selected speakers and many other guests.

A formal dinner at the Earle Page Collage Dinning set the scene for the following two full days of study.

It was Jack Hobbs who welcomed the delegates while Ms Pisani was the first speaker who gave an overview of Malta, taking the delegates through the island's rich history and referring to Malta's role in today's world.

As a former Consul General and a veteran journalist, I explained the effects of party politics on the people of Malta and the evolution of politics, from the Knights to the EU.

Dance Of The Two Cultures was the theme of the lecture by Victor Vella, an author and teacher who explained in detail the effect of both cultures on the Maltese migrants and how they managed to cope with them.

Victoria Borg took an anthropological approach about the island of Gozo. She also spoke about her experiences when she revisited the island of her birth.

Mark Caruana, an oral historian and migrant researcher, gave a brief history of Maltese settlement in Australia and emphasised the importance of oral history.

The audience heard a Maltese lady who migrated in 1914 explain her experience as a child migrant growing up in the city of Sydney (Wooloomooloo).

The last two speakers on the first day were Lino Vella, editor of The Maltese Herald, who spoke about the impact of the Maltese written media and the history of his national newspaper over the past 45 years, and Kylie Cassar-Bartolo from Melbourne who lectured about diabetes in the Maltese community.

The music of Skorba, a talented group of musicians led by Andy Busuttil, delighted the dinner guests with a rendition of Maltese folk music accompanied by a commentary and big visual images of the temples of Malta.

Sunday was another interesting day when Roderick Bovingdon, a linguist and writer, spoke with authority on the language and literature of an island nation.

Lou Drofenik, the author of the book Birds Of Passage, gave a fascinating picture of Maltese women, their taboos and tradition.

The final speaker was Alfred Fenech, a former honorary Commercial Consul in NSW, who spoke about Maltese trade and commerce and on the constant attempts to promote Malta as a base for Australians trading in the EU, the Middle East and North Africa.

The five male Maltese speakers were from Sydney, NSW and the three female Maltese speakers came from Melbourne, Victoria .

Judy Richardson AM, the state president of the CWA, explained that the study school does not end with the conference. Each delegate is required to disseminate to the branches and schools his/her knowledge of the island nation. Malta will therefore be the focus of all their activities for the year 2007.

Pat Irving, the state international officer, explained that every year the CWA selects a host country to be studied and year 2007 was Malta's turn. She said the reaction from the delegates was a positive one. The realisation of what Malta has to offer and the contribution of the Maltese to Australia was indeed impressive.

Mr Caruana, one of the speakers, said this was a unique opportunity to promote the island of Malta to the Australian community. These rare opportunities ultimately bring with them huge exposure to the Maltese islands in terms of tourism and business.

Other observers said this was a once in a decade opportunity costing Malta very little outlay. We need to be better coordinated and more resources must be made available in the future, they insisted.

The University of New England Conference Company responsible for the smooth and efficient running of the weekend study school also produced a detailed 103-page booklet about Malta's geography, history, culture, society, architecture, costumes and cuisine. The CWA is promoting among members a tour to the Maltese islands this year.