Motions

Molinara Social and sports Club

The Hon. J.S. LEE (21:08): I move:

That this council—

1. Acknowledges that 2017 marks the 45th anniversary celebration of the Molinara Social and Sports Club in South Australia;

2. Pays tribute to community leaders and volunteers of the club for their long-term commitment to support the Italian migrants' community residing in South Australia; and

3. Highlights the history, achievements and contributions of the Molinara Social and Sports Club.

Today is a great honour to move the motion standing in my name in parliament to congratulate the Molinara Cultural and Community Club, formerly known as the Molinara Social and Sports Club, on their 45^th anniversary celebration this year. In speaking to this motion, I would like to firstly place on the record special acknowledgement of the current management committee of the Molinara club for their hard work and enormous contribution to South Australia.

The community-minded individuals currently on the committee are: President, John Baldino; Vice-President, Anziani Convener; Treasurer, John Girolamo; Secretary, Sonia Kuliwaba; Vice-Secretary, Sonia Romeo; committee members, Matthew Baldino, Nick Boffa, Donato Baldino and Tony Fazzini; kitchen manager, Nick Menechella; bar manager, Rob Baldino; and building and assets manager, Joe Menechella.

I have found the President of the Molinara club, John Baldino, to be a true gentleman, with great passion for his community. John and his family and all the committee members are very proud of their Italian heritage and have worked diligently with others to build a strong foundation for the Molinara club. John has been exceptionally helpful in providing my office with substantial details about the club and the history of the Molinarese migration to Australia. I wish to thank John for his generous assistance to gather useful and important materials for this motion.

The Molinara club has been run solely with volunteers since its establishment. Current and past committee members all work as volunteers. They are all wonderful custodians of the club. Day to day, year to year, these volunteers ensure all matters are handled to their best ability and always act in the best interests of the community. All of them deserve to be congratulated on their fantastic contributions and today being recognised in the Parliament of South Australia.

During one of my visits to the Molinara club, I was fortunate to be presented with a book that outlined the history and journey of the members of the Molinara club. The book captured the history of a southern Italian community in South Australia, from 1927 to 2007. The book is edited by Don Longo, with the title Terra lasci, terra trovi: from Molinara to Adelaide. I would like to quote a statement published on the back of the book because those words, I believe, will set the scene for this motion. The statements I am about to read out capture the emotions and feelings immigrants experienced when they left Molinara. I quote:

To leave a country is a hard decision, especially when it is forced by economic necessity. To find a new country can also be difficult; it requires not only adopting the new land, but adapting to it. The people from Molinara who came to Adelaide have managed that transition, enriching their new land while preserving their traditional customs.

Like many post World War II migrants, many Molinaresi migrated to Australia to seek better economic stability for their families and to find a location which offered a sense of safety, especially after the 1962 earthquake that devastated the town.

The first Molinaresi to migrate to Australia was Rocco Luigi Cirocco. He arrived in August 1927. Then in 1948, the first group of Molinaresi arrived in Adelaide to find jobs, establish new homes and adapt to a new way of life in South Australia. As we have heard over and over again, similar stories are found in other migrant communities. People have a strong and natural tendency to gravitate towards people from the same home town.

There was a strong desire and need to connect with the larger Molinaresi community beyond occasions like weddings and the annual Feast Day of St Rocco, therefore the community wanted to focus on developing programs that could continue to highlight and educate children about the traditions, values and customs of Molinara.

The founding of the Molinara organisation was unique. It was the first organisation to be formed by immigrants from one village community of southern Italy. The objective behind the foundation of the organisation was to ensure the traditions and customs of their native homeland were maintained. In a sense, the founding committee wanted to recreate in South Australia the village life that they had left behind in Italy.

The Molinaresi have a reputation of being people of action, rather than words. They have worked hard to build comfortable lives for themselves and to build their community in South Australia. As I get to know the community better and better, I certainly recognise these wonderful qualities and I can readily see the type of community services that they deliver.

With the success of the Molinara Social and Sports Club amongst its members, the club was finally able to achieve their dream and vision and establish their own clubrooms. On 2 July 1973, the club purchased a property at Windsor Gardens where the clubrooms now stand. The club finally had a home.

Recently, the clubrooms went through a large renovation, upgrading the facilities in order to maintain the atmosphere and presence of the Molinara community in the north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. The upgrading of the club makes it a truly marvellous club with modern facilities, giving it a lovely atmosphere which is appreciated by the entire South Australian community.

There have been nine past presidents in the last 45 years. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for these nine past presidents. The first president of the club was Joseph Baldino, who was elected in 1971 as founding president. Since then, there have been nine other past presidents providing valuable leadership: Joe Emanuele 1973-74; Rocco Galluccio 1974-75; Nicola Cirocco 1975-77, and then continued from 1980 to 1983 and then came back again from 1993 to 1996; Donato Callisto served as president from 1977 to 1980 and then came back again as president from 1984 to 1986; Mario Spagnoletti from 1986 to 1988; Donato Cirocco from 1988 to 1990; Bill Cirocco 1996 to 1998; and John Girolamo from 1998 to 2015. John Girolamo has been the longest serving president and he has done it for 17 years. Congratulations to everybody for their distinguished service to the club.

Since its inception the club has been committed to giving back to the community. Earlier this year, I attended the Italian Earthquake Appeal fundraising dinner with the wonderful member for Morialta Mr John Gardner in the other place and Senator Anne Ruston. The hardworking Liberal candidate for Torrens Therese Kenny was there also to support and help the communities in Italy to rebuild after the earthquake.

Working in conjunction with a children's charity group, I recently hosted a fundraising dinner with Pulse Promotions to support the talented youth group the Beat Breakers from the Pure Funk Dance Studio. It was a pleasure to support these 12 energetic students from diverse cultural backgrounds. I am very proud of their achievements. They currently hold the title as back-to-back state youth champions in hip-hop dance competitions. The Molinara club played an integral role in assisting with the fundraising dinner for the children's dance group and I wish to acknowledge the president and everyone at the Molinara club for making the event a great success.

The Molinara club has always been an active participant in the community. It has participated in parades, food stalls and exhibitions at various Italian festivals held in Adelaide. In particular, they always have a strong presence at the Adelaide Italian Festival, the Carnevale. They have been involved with the Italian festivals since 1976.

Within the Molinara club a number of members actually reached milestone birthdays. They are very blessed. Many of these good people celebrated their 100 year birthdays. This includes Lucia Baldino, the first Molinarese born to actually reach 100 years of age in Australia, on 2 March 1994; Di Incoronata Callisto also reached her 100 year birthday on 30 April 2005; Francesco Saverio Cirocco achieved her 100 year birthday on 13 September 2004; Maria Baldino also had her 100 year birthday on 7 October 2010; and Cosimo Cirocco had a 100 year birthday on 13 February 2016.

So, I hope that this longevity will carry through throughout the Molinara club. In closing, it is a great honour to move this motion to acknowledge that 2017 marks the 45^th anniversary of the celebration of the Molinara club in South Australia. I am delighted to have this opportunity to pay tribute to community leaders and volunteers of the club for their long-term commitment to support the Italian migrants' community residing in South Australia, and I thank them for their contribution socially and economically in making South Australia a wonderful multicultural state. I commend the motion to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.E. Hanson.