Immigrants turned Activists: Italians in 1970s Melbourne

Simone Battiston, Swinburne University of Technology

What do Australian celebrity chef Stefano de Pieri, former Labor state MP Giovanni Sgro, and the late SBS Italian Radio host Umberto Martinengo have in common? They are all Italian immigrants who became political militants, along with several hundreds more, in left-wing organisations and parties before or throughout the 1970s in Melbourne, a key period of Australian political history in the post-Second World War period. This book offers a unique insight into the life trajectories of politically active Italian immigrants and their left-wing grassroots organisations. It does so in the light of fresh archival data and a string of oral accounts gathered from former and current members and collaborators of leading left-wing organisations, such as the Italian Federation of Migrant Workers and Their Families (FILEF). This study, which portrays successful pro-migrant lobbying as well as organisational failures and political sectarianism, is a telling example of the political potential and limits of immigrant activism in Australia.