As I have said, my first job in Australia was
in the building industry, because I ended up working as a bricklayer’s labour,
but I lost that job for a couple of reasons. I believe that I lost the first
job, because I didn’t know English and at the same time, I had no experience in
the sort of work we were doing, and for that reason I could not guess what they
wanted me to do next. After that I had another job which ended very much the
same way; but then one day suddenly a small Italian builder needed a labour and
he knew that I was available, so he came to fetch me and asked if I would be
interested to work for him, and this is how I ended up working in the building
industry, I worked for this builder for about two years, but then he went on
holiday to Italy for a long time, therefore, he temporary closed down the
business, but by then the Italian building community new about me, so, in a few
days I had another job to go to, always in the building industry with another
builder or contractors working as a bricklayer labour.
You see in those times there was a lot more
work for people wanting to work, but at the same time we knew that we had to
work hard because there was a lot of competition going on even in those days,
so, what could we say if we work hard for it, we would always find somebody
that would give us work, because we earned our wage plus a bit more for the
employer. This is how I understood the ways of earning your living in this
capitalist society, which is based on competition and you are paid with what
you deliver. Now, we have to say that this capitalist way is very good, if the
workers are not pushed beyond their physical capacity. But let us compare those
times with our present times.
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Compare the old ways with the new
Here we want to compare the opportunities
that we had, when we came in Australia in the sixties as emigrant, to the opportunities
of the illegal migrants that arrive by boat uninvited.
So, we need to compare what we had to do to
come to Australia in the sixties, with what is happening today with illegal
emigration, to spot the reasons why things don’t work as good as they used to
work, for the emigrants.
You see, when I and the other emigrants
wanted to come to Australia during the sixties, we had to be screened before we
could have a visa that would allow us to come to Australia and work.
This screening was strict, as they did not
want anybody that could become sick, so, we had to go through a medical check,
and there was another stricter check about being legally of good character,
even if you had ever had trouble with the police, in fact, they were so strict
about this that if one had been involved with the communist party, by saying
that you would vote for the communist party, you would not be allowed to come
to Australia.
I hope that I have explained how strict they
were then, before they gave you a visa to come to work in Australia. Anyhow, I can
say that this screening the emigrants was a good thing after all, because after
that it was a lot easier when you were in Australia, since they knew everything
that they needed to know, so, the authorities were more relaxed. As I have said,
when I went to the unemployment office even though I did not speak much English
they did everything possible to find me a job, and if they could not find us a
job soon enough, they would pay us the unemployment benefit.
Anyhow, from my own experience, I can say
that anyone
that has come to Australia and has
seen Australia the same way that I have seen it, they know that Australia is a
great country to live in; and if there is somebody that does not like
Australia, it must be because they have their own personal problems and they
are home sick, or they are unwilling to work hard.
Today Australia does not seem to be as good
as it was when I came to Australia, because there are more unemployed people,
and it is hard for people to find permanent work. But in my eyes, it is still
okay, you need to be more patient until you find a job.
But my impression about Australia is this;
anyone that sees Australia the way that I saw it when I came here, would fall
in love with the Australian ways of living. Now we can say that today it is not
as good as it used to be, but we are still good compared to other countries.
So, we want to conclude this article by saying that Australia can be still the land
of opportunities, if the people that come here come with the intention of
working hard, as we have been working in the past, they should not come with
the intention of ripping us off, because they want to have an easy life for
themselves.
Now, because today a lot of things are
different, most of all the difference that exists between screened legal
emigrant, and those emigrants that come illegally and the authorities don’t
know anything about them. So, a comparison between these emigrants is not
possible. Therefore, measuring the opportunities that exist is not possible
either.
Anyhow this article is becoming too long, so,
see you next time with another article called; Australian building industry,
where we will be continuing to tell you my life story and what I have done in
Australia to earn a living. See you there.
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