Mario Giacobetti

Story

Mario Giacobetti was born on the 6 November 1932 in Appignano Del Tronto in the province of Marche, Italy. He is the second child & second son of Giuseppe Giacobetti and Margherita Balzotto. Mario grew up in the area surrounding Appignano in a large family. His mother died during childbirth when he was just two years old. His education consisted of about three years of schooling between the ages of seven and ten in a public school.

During his childhood Mario worked on his parents share farm. They sold eggs and vegetables to buy salt, pepper and kerosene. The war years were extremely hard for Mario’s family & they had few possessions. The family shared one pair of shoes.

Post war Italy for Mario presented little opportunity for employment & he was keen to escape a future which meant hard work on a share farm for little reward. The Australian Government was advertising for young healthy Italians to migrate to Australia as part of its post war immigration policy so Mario made enquiries at Ascoli Piceno & a few months later he learned that his application had been successful. The decision to leave for Australia was made.

Mario was just 19 years old with one bag of personal belongings, a new suit and 14 pounds in his pocket when he departed Italy from the Port of Naples on the ‘SS Castel Bianco\’ in early July 1952. Mario had heard that to get to Australia you had to go across the Adriatic Sea & through the Suez Canal. The journey took around 31 days. It was a long trip for Mario because he had never travelled outside of Marche. Soon he would be in a strange land unable to speak the language, & did not know what kind of work he would be able to undertake.

Mario arrived in Sydney on 2Aug1952 & spent two weeks at the Greta Immigration Camp. The next four years he spent travelling between Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales (NSW), Tully in North Queensland and Griffith in NSW cutting cane and picking fruit. As Mario moved from job to job he lived in sheds, ate simple meals & found communication difficult, but was never without a job. He met many other Italians during these years & formed many friendships. They entertained themselves with good food and wine, singing and card playing. As ‘new Australians\’ they developed a reputation for always being well dressed, having strong family values & a strong work ethic.

In 1954 Mario applied to bring Angelo Traini, a childhood friend, to Australia. When Angelo arrived in 1956 they went to Mullumbimby on the north coast of N.S.W. Mario purchased a small banana farm which he later sold. Angelo worked in the banana plantations and Mario moved to Nimbin, about one hours drive from Mullumbimby, where he had purchased another farm.

In September 1960 Mario met Charlotte Suffolk & thought ‘she was too good to waste\’. They were married in Lismore N.S.W on 23 September 1961. Earlier that same year (26 Jan) Mario became an Australian citizen. Mario & Charlotte went to work growing bananas and breeding cattle. They had five children Ð Margherita, Adriano, Linda, Angela, and Filippo.

Life on the land was hard work & the children helped Mario and Charlotte when they could. Mario extended the family home himself & built a wine cellar. All visitors were then treated to a drop of ‘Mario\’s finest wines\’.

In 1972 Mario purchased a farm near his old one and built a new home. During the first cut of bananas off this farm the 1974 flood occurred. He hired a truck to transport his bananas to Newcastle & received a cheque for $900. Mario was very happy with this payment. The years between 1980 and 1990 were tough ones on the land for Mario, with droughts & hail storms occurring often.

In the 1990\’s with the family growing and moving on, Mario was able to relax and enjoy farming at his own pace. In 2004 Mario & Charlotte retired and now live on the outskirts of Lismore where Mario has a small olive grove. They are self funded retirees & live comfortably having prospered through hard work.

Mario has travelled back to Italy several times, twice with Charlotte, & all five children have been to Italy to see where Mario grew up. Mario feels that Australia is his home & he knows that for his children Australia has provided many opportunities & a safe and happy home for them. He notes with pride that they all have done well for themselves.

Mario has demonstrated that if you are prepared to work hard you have every opportunity for personal & financial success in Australia. He did it all without Government assistance.

He is proud of his Italian culture and heritage & being able to introduce all good things ‘Italian\’ to Australia, but most of all he is proud of the great personal contribution that he has made through his hard work.

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