Many in Malta, especially those who were not around during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, tend to trivialise Malta’s migration history. Their comments and observations invariably draw erroneous comparisons to the existing situation in Malta brought about by the uncontrolled influx of trafficked and mostly undocumented migrants over the past 15 years.

Some even denigrate Maltese migrants and hold them in contempt because of the perceived social status and circumstances which led them, along with their families, to seek a new life away from Malta. Such comments do not do justice to the hundreds of thousands of Maltese migrants who worked hard, raised families and contributed positively to the communities and countries in which they settled.

The saga of the Maltese migrants of New Caledonia is testament to the spirit of adventure and intrepidness of a group of Maltese and Gozitan migrants who had sought to build a new life for themselves in Australia, and also the degrading, inhumane treatment and hardship they endured.

The events described here have been well documented, and received extensive coverage in the Australian press of the day.

Six of the migrants were allowed to disembark as they were able to prove that they had been in Australia beforehand

World War I was raging in certain parts of the world when the French Mail Steamer Gange departed from Valletta on September 12, 1916. The passengers included 214 Maltese migrants, among whom were a number of Gozitans. Records show some of the Gozitans were related to one another. The Gange sailed through Port Said, touched in at Colombo, Ceylon and reached Fremantle, Australia, on October 21, 1916. During the crossing from Colombo to Fremantle, a violent storm almost caused the vessel to capsize.

The arrival of the Gange at Fremantle created quite a stir among then prime minister Billy Hughes’s government. The prime minister had scheduled a referendum vote for October 28, which centred on the question of whether Australia should conscript able-bodied Australian males in light of the ongoing war.

Australian and New Zealand troops had suffered devastating casualties and losses at Gallipoli. The unions were totally opposed to conscription on the grounds that a ‘yes’ vote would deplete their rank and file, and cheap, second-class labour would replace Australian workers.

Thus, the unexpected and inopportune arrival of the Maltese migrants gave credence to the widely circulated, but totally incorrect, statement that the government was introducing Maltese to take the place of Australian soldiers serving at the front. The referendum was subsequently defeated, however the unions continued to remain vocal against the prime minister.

The Maltese were therefore refused admission under the provisions of Australia’s Immigration Act, which had proved highly effective in deterring Asian and other unwelcome immigrants. A penalty of 100 pounds for each prohibited immigrant was imposed on the masters, agents, charterers and owners of ships that brought such persons to Australia. Thus, after a few years of harsh experience, shipping companies dissuaded persons who stood a chance of being excluded at an Australian port from proceeding with their intended voyage.

The French shipping company Messageries Maritimes clearly had no idea that the Maltese on the Gange would be declared prohibited immigrants and thus excluded from Australia.

The Immigration Act involved a dictation test administered in ‘a European language’ by the authorities. The Maltese were made to take such a test while still on board the Gange, then berthed in Melbourne. The test was conducted by a professor from the University of Melbourne, who promptly failed all the Maltese. The test had purposefully been conducted in the Dutch language!

Having failed the test, the Maltese became prohibited immigrants, prevented from disembarking anywhere within the Commonwealth of Australia and liable to six months’ imprisonment and deportation should they somehow make it to the shore.

Subsequently, six of the migrants were allowed to disembark as they were able to prove that they had been in Australia beforehand. As the rest were not allowed to disembark at Sydney, on November 4, the Gange set sail for Noumea, in French New Caledonia, 1,207 kilometres east of Australia.

The Maltese landed at Noumea, pending further arrangements for their repatriation. But efforts to repatriate the Maltese were unsuccessful and they were brought back to Sydney after languishing in Noumea for 10 weeks. This cost the Australian government £2,332.

At Sydney Harbour they were housed on a derelict hulk named The Anglican under round-the-clock armed guard, at a cost of £743. The owners of the Gange were compensated £4,050 for the delays their ship had endured.

The Maltese migrants received significant support from relatives and friends already settled in Australia, foremost among them a certain Rev. Fr William Bonett, who was allowed to visit the imprisoned migrants and was also able to arrange for deliveries of fresh food and fruit.

Others condemned the Australian government, especially Hughes.

“Those men,” said a certain Cann, a member of parliament, “are all British subjects, and have a perfect right to come to New South Wales if they wish.” Another member stated: “They are more British than he is,” presumably referring to the prime minister.

Others were more assertive: “Where would the boys have been on April 25, 1915, had not the Maltese kept up the line of communication? How many of them partook in the naval battle of Jutland? How did they treat the boys whom they got to Malta? And this is the way we repay them? O God, is this fair play? Are we playing the game?

“Surely, if they obtained a passport from the Governor of Malta to proceed to Australia, no Governor in Australia could stop them from landing. And it is not as if they were assisted out, because they all paid their passage across.”

Or: “About 214 Maltese are kept on the Gange, not allowed to land in Australia. But why? Are they not British subjects? Are they not white? Maybe they are whiter than some who at the present moment call themselves Australians.”

Obviously the entire saga had taken on racist overtones.

A final, scathing indictment of the Australian prime minister appeared in The Western Australian of Wednesday, May 2, 1917:

“Mr Hughes is dubbed by admirers ‘a great Imperial statesman’. Let us see how he handled this matter, in which an issue of grave international character is involved. The Maltese are a white race. They are also British subjects.

“Thousands of them are today fighting for the empire and for Australia. Others have received our wounded Australians into their homes at Malta and nursed them back to health.

“The permanent exclusion of Maltese from a part of the empire must necessarily embarrass the statesmen and generals charged with the conduct of this war. But Mr Hughes had no eye for the troubles of others. He saw only his own difficulty. Referendum day was approaching.

“Australians were being sent to Europe, and here was a body of Maltese coming to Australia to fill their places in our mines and fields and factories. So to surmount his difficulty for the moment, he dispatched the Maltese to Noumea, confined them later on a hulk in Sydney Harbour, releasing them eventually by compulsion of his new allies, Mr Joseph Cook and party. His goldfields admirers have not assisted Mr Hughes in forcing explanations from him about the Maltese.

“He cuts a pitiable figure throughout. He showed no consideration for Imperial interests by his action. He inflicted unmerited sufferings on the Maltese and their wives and children. For the sake of his own reputation, Mr Hughes should endeavour to consign the whole transaction, were it possible, into deep oblivion.”

Eventually, the Maltese migrants were permitted to land at Sydney on guarantees being given that they would join unions and that employment would be found for them. The date was March 21, 1917.

• Mr Morana will be giving a lecture on the Maltese migrants of New Caledonia at Il-Ħaġar museum in St George’s Square, Victoria, on Saturday at 10.30am. Entrance is free. The museum is currently hosting an exhibition organised by the Gozo Philatelic Society to mark the centennial. It runs until mid-March.