Malta in the Latrobe Valley

Tucked away in Morwell, the Maltese Community Centre & Museum is a fascinating tribute to the Maltese migrant story in Australia — a place where miniature cities, family heirlooms, and generations of cultural memory quietly preserve a community that helped build the Australia of today.

Malta is a small country in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and the North African coast. It’s a nation known for historic sites related to a succession of rulers including the Phoenicians (700 BC), Carthaginians, Romans (218 BC), Byzantines (535), Aghlabids (870), Sicily (1091), the Order of the Knights of St John (1530), the French (1798), and the British (1813-1974). That’s a lot of history, especially for a nation that consists of not much more than two tiny islands with an area of 316 square kilometres. Malta’s value for the great rulers of Europe and North Africa was its strategic position in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

In some ways, Malta is a nation of contradictions. Whilst Malta is culturally European in character, its language is Semitic, derived from Sicilian Arabic with a smattering of Latin influence – it does not sound European at all. Under British rule in the twentieth century, this tiny nation participated in World War II (successfully repelling the Nazis) and afterwards, many of its citizens sought a better life elsewhere. As a fellow British Commonwealth nation, Australia was an attractive destination for Maltese migrants, with its familiar English language and thirst for workers. As some readers would be able to infer from my surname, I have Maltese heritage in my family, and indeed one of my parents was an immigrant to Australia (as a small child). But whereas my grandparents settled in Melbourne, a great many instead chose to settle in the Gippsland town of Morwell, about 135 km east of Australia’s second-largest city. The lure was employment offered by the State Electricity Commission.

Over time, thousands of Malthese families settled in Morwell and made it their home. In acknowledgement of that history, Morwell local Mario Sammut established the Maltese Cultural Centre and Museum. It is an impessive tribute of the history of Malta and the experiences of its migrants in Australia. With the help of the local community, Mario converted an old pigeon-racing shed into a beautiful museum, right next to the popular Maltese Cultural Centre. On a recent visit to Morwell, we decided to take a visit, and I was most impressed.

The visit to the museum was a personal experience, with Mario showing us around the venue and pointing out the highlights as well as explaining the history of the Maltese. There were miniature replicas of significant Maltese buildings, historical photographs, maps as well as displays of clothing and crafts. There were also some historic coaches inside, as well as a recently-completed library.

I was quite surprised at the extent of the displays and several hours were comfortably spent at the venue. Mario came and went, assisting with any explanations that we required. His passion and commitment was profound, and made the experience all that much more enriching. After a visit to the museum, we went next door to the Cultural Centre to enjoy Malta’s most famous culinary export – pastizzi.

The Museum is open every Sunday, but at other times by appointment. Entry is by donation. I cannot recommend this venue enough!

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