Volume 4, Issue 1

March 2003

Page 12

NEW FROM UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA PRESS

*Excerpt from speech by the Premier, the Hon. Dr. Geoff Gallop, launching Milk and Honey – but no Gold: Post war Immigration to Western Australia.

Nonja and Premier Geoff Gallop

"…We need to encourage publications that deal with the Western Australian experience. Our Western Australian experience is similar but different to the Australian experience in general."

"…One of the most important…is the migration experience. We need that story to be told. Without publishing houses supporting authors like Dr.Nonya (Peters), the story would be there but it might be hidden in many homes, in many trunks, in the memories of many individuals. By the support the UWA Press as given to Nonya, she has been able to bring forward all those experiences in this wonderful publication, so that future generations can know what it was like to be in Western Australia at that time.

The State Government through the Office of Multicultural Interests is very proud to have sponsored Milk and Honey- but no Gold.

Can I congratulate Nonya as the author, and can I congratulate the UWA Press for producing a book that promotes interest, curiosity and understanding in our community. You have ensured that a vital historical account has been preserved forever, to play a role in making sure that our understanding of this important period in the history of Western Australia will stay with us in the future."

Book View

Grief and joy, hardship and achievement, laughter and tears.... Although Australia opened its doors to a flood of migrants at the end of the Second World War, its citizens did not always open their arms to the newcomers as they strove to find their feet in a vastly different environment from the one they had left. Immigrant children in particular often suffered more than their parents as they fought for recognition and acceptance in their new home.

In this important book, which fills a significant literary gap, Nonja Peters (who herself came to Western Australia at the age of five) traces the experiences of Britons, Czechs, Greeks, Lithuanians, Germans and many other postwar migrants as they struggled to carve out new lives for themselves and their families.

Milk and Honey but no Gold is the product of twelve years’ of research by the author, who conducted more than 350 interviews, and studied diaries, letters, archival information and immigration documents, shipping lists, maps and photographs. Her account of the migrant experience, illustrated with a diverse selection of photographs, charts the sea voyage, first impressions of Western Australia, and first tentative steps as the newcomers find accommodation, jobs, homes and schools for their children.

In addition, the author celebrates the very notable contribution of postwar migrants to Western Australia’s economic, cultural and social life.

Courtesy University of Western Australia Press.
The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009

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