Port Pirie Annual Blessing of the Fleet

The Hon. G.G. BROCK (Stuart) (15:26): Today I would like to speak about an annual event that has taken place not only in Port Pirie but also in Port Adelaide, Fremantle and Molfetta in Italy. I had a notice of motion before the house today, but the member for Playford was called before me so I had to withdraw that motion. I did not even present it.

I want to concentrate on the 95^th Annual Blessing of the Fleet recently held at Port Pirie. The celebrations are in recognition of the hardships of the original Italian fishermen who came to Australia, and in particular Port Pirie, 95 years ago looking for a better life for themselves and also their families. Many fishermen left their families at home in Italy at the start, but once they established themselves they then brought their families out to Port Pirie in this instance. Many of those fishermen have a long history in Port Pirie.

In their own country, these people were renown as great fishermen and they used these skills in the new country they had called their new home in Australia and in particular Port Pirie. Their vessels were not like those of today, but were wooden, and when they went out fishing they stayed out in the gulf for many days, coping with cooking on the wooden floors and also without any fresh water.

The organisation of this event has been shared by many over the many years, but this year the president was Philip Amato who, with his wife, Tina, and their very dedicated group, were able to carry out one of the biggest attended blessings of the fleet activities in our community for many, many years.

The celebration starts with a debutante ball for those young people who elect to make their debut. This year, there were 11 couples choosing to make the 95^th celebration their night of celebration. The next morning, there was a celebration at the Catholic St Mark's Cathedral where the crowd was the largest for many, many years. The Leader of the Opposition the Hon. Vincent Tarzia was there for about three-quarters of an hour but then he had to go to Port Augusta.

From the cathedral, the procession proceeded to where the selected members of the committee carry the statue of Our Lady of Martyrs to the Port Pirie boat ramp where further festivities are undertaken, this year with many food stalls where the public was able to enjoy various food celebrations. I must admit, the crowd there was absolutely fantastic and the atmosphere was really terrific. One of the good things about that was there were lots of people from outside of Port Pirie who were seeing some of the actual celebrations and the attractions of Port Pirie.

After these festivities, the statue is then loaded onto a fishing vessel where the statue, plus the bishop, other clergy and the debutantes, are then taken out onto the Port Pirie River to celebrate and acknowledge the hardships that our Italian forefathers endured in those early years.

Every year, my partner Lyn and I have been able to go on to the fishing boat but, unfortunately, this year there were only two boats and by the time the bishop, the clergy and the debutantes were on board, for the first time in the history that we have been there, we were not able to go on the vessel. We then returned to the cathedral for the final blessings and left there with great thoughts.

This year, we were privileged to have the bishop of Molfetta and some clergy attend the 95^th anniversary. The bishop was absolutely fantastic. The conversation was very hard because he does not speak English and I do not speak Italian; however, we did have one of the Filipino priests there translating, and I said to Father Jimmy, 'You are doing a fantastic job there, Father Jimmy.' He said, 'Geoff, I could tell you anything and you would believe what I am telling you.' At the end of the day, it was very good. The bishop of Molfetta was very impressed with not only the dedication but also the commitment from the locals.

In closing, I would like mention that for the duration of our celebrations there have been only seven presidents in 95 years. As I mentioned, Phil Amato is in his fifth year. I would also like to commend Dino Gadaleta, who has served on the committee since 1968 and served as president for 38 years. Also, as a non-Catholic, I have been privileged to have attended—according to Philip Amato on the night of the debutantes—for 30 years, celebrating and learning with other community members there.

I also would like to acknowledge that over these years I have had the opportunity to learn more about the Italian heritage and their history, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to learn from other organisations; it is a great thing. I am looking forward to the 100^th anniversary and, as I have mentioned to the minister, we will be looking for funds for the 100^th anniversary in five years.