Cabra-Matters: An Ex Pat's Memoirs on being Australian at Heart

Cabramatta is a suburb in south west of Sydney, located in New South Wales, Australia. It was once a town known predominantly for its agriculture and the name came into existence after a township grew from the village with a railway system being built in the 1850s. The presence of a migrant hostel alongside Cabramatta High School was decisive in shaping the community in the post-war period. It housed a large number of post-war immigrants who began to develop local businesses within the region. For such reasons, Cabramatta and the surrounding Fairfield area was characterized by a diversity of Australian-born children having migrant parents. A second tide of immigration ensued and this time migrants were from south-east Asia as a result of the Vietnam War. During the 1980s, Cabramatta was transformed into a thriving Asian community, displacing many of the previous migrant generation. Today, should one ever pay a visit, it could easily be confused with the streets of Saigon or any other "Chinatown" and is Australia's largest non-Anglo-Celtic commercial precinct.

The suburb also served as a home to one of the country's most reformative leaders: Gough Whitlam. Fairfield Council will honour the late Gough Whitlam by naming the public square at its new Dutton Lane development in Cabramatta "Gough Whitlam Place". His memorial service will also be broadcast in Freedom Plaza. The former prime minister was member for the southwest seat of Werriwa for 25 years. He was very approachable and had Australia at heart. In fact, it was his direct experience of life in the sprawling western suburbs that inspired him to address the problems of urban Australia. Once in government, he never lost his passion or empathy for working Australians. He helped transform Australia into a land of progress, opportunity, equality and fairness.

It was at about that time that as with many early migrants in the 1970s, my father  applied for migration to Australia and was accepted there. He left Pakistan was to avoid the political instability of the region; hereby securing a better future to come and because he did not have the heart to charge money from the poorest of poor persons upon seeking treatment. Upon arriving at the shores of Australia, he received employment with Fairfield Hospital located in Sydney's Western suburbs. During the year of 1974, he went back to Pakistan to visit his family and it was decided that he should seek a new bride to wed. It was during that year that both my mother and father married. My mother sought migration not long thereafter.

Both were later united in the same year and worked together in Fairfield Hospital for some time.  Later, my father grew his practice in Cabramatta. Western Sydney is  now known for generating the third largest economy in Australia behind the Sydney Central Business District and Melbourne and its highly dense multicultural population.

Consequently, we grew up with core, unique, Australian multicultural values consisting of three essential elements:

1. Those who arrive in Australia are invited to continue to celebrate their cultures and traditions, not only within a broader culture of freedom but, more importantly, with due regard;

2. Shared respect for democratic beliefs, laws and rights; and

3. Belief in its political bipartisanship.

In the interim, the suburb did begin to have an  image problem, primarily due to its reputation as a point for drug-dealing. With the refugee influx came a heroin problem, which, has now been contained. My father was also very influential in getting the attention of media and government on the issue and did speak before the Parliamentary Inquiry.

Cabramatta is also remembered for the political murder of a NSW State MP, John Newman,outside his Cabramatta home in September 1994. This was Australia's first ever political assassination and thus this assassination drew much attention and alarm.

All around, Cabramatta is what modern day Australia encompasses. It sets the stage for shaping Australia politically, and, from a policy perspective. It grew, suffered some loss, and, now, has become a place to where people want to flock in order to sustain some of the best deals on material; electronics; homeware; shoes; food and clothing. Therefore, the multicultural environment brought much innovation, ideas, skills, energy with achievement.  Lives were enriched for those reasons. Australians enjoy a higher standard of living than they would have, otherwise, due to a broad array of skills and knowledge. Part of this meant working within these values to sustain a culture within a new homeland. A recognition and celebration of different cultural heritages was made with a common, shared future.