6
By the mid 1930s the regulatory authorities in Perth were
aware of the risk of
occupational disease from asbestos exposure, with four cases reported at the James Hardie
asbestos factory in Rivervale. During the same period, Lang Hancock began asbestos
mining in Wittenoom. By the mid 1940s, he had sold the Wittenoom mine to the Colonial
Sugar Refining Company, as CSR was then known. CSR was expanding into the building
industry and had been looking for a suitable additive to strengthen its building materials. Blue
asbestos (or crocidolite) with
its strengthening, insulating and acid- and fire-resistant
properties was ideal. CSR and ABA Limited, the company’s subsidiary operating the mine,
were assisted in their endeavours by the Commonwealth and Western Australian
governments.
Both governments wanted to establish a viable mining industry in the far northwest of
Western Australia in order to stimulate economic growth and at the same time set up a self-
sufficient
asbestos industry, rather than rely on overseas imports. The Commonwealth also
lent its support in order to create a presence in the underpopulated north for border safety
reasons. Both governments invested in the development of the town which grew around the
mine. The Western Australian government provided much of Wittenoom’s infrastructure,
while the Commonwealth granted subsidies from time to time. Regardless of the scientific
knowledge the Colonial Sugar Refining Company acquired about the hazards of asbestos
exposure and asbestos-related diseases, it was lax in implementing improvements or
carrying out maintenance to address the ongoing hazardous working conditions in the mine
and mill, or ignored them altogether. The Commonwealth
and Western Australian
governments wanted to see the Wittenoom venture succeed at any cost. Consequently,
despite the recommendations in the Mines Inspectors’ reports and the efforts of the
Department of Health to ensure the health of Wittenoom workers, the Department of Mines
failed to enforce the Mines Regulation Act.
Workers went to Wittenoom in the belief they could create a better future in exchange
for a few years of hard work for high earnings.
4
However, the clouds of dust in the mill and
the crammed conditions and poor ventilation in the mine deterred all but the most
4
These high earnings came from work on contract, working overtime or taking on several jobs.
7
determined. In the 1940s Australian ticketed miners preferred the conditions in the Kalgoorlie
gold mines to those at Wittenoom. Unable to maintain
a reliable workforce, from 1950 ABA
Limited were sent workers from the Displaced Persons pool arriving in Australia. To source
experienced miners, in 1951 ABA Limited went to northern Italy to recruit workers. These
men came from mining areas of the Seriana Valley in Lombardy, and from the Trentino Alto
Adige region. Many of these men had worked in Italian and Belgian mines and on the
construction of the Alpine dams and tunnels. Others came from the Island of Elba where its
coal mine was in financial difficulties and miners were about to be laid off. Eventually news of
the high earnings spread among Italian migrants already in Western Australia. Many went to
Wittenoom despite having been told about the difficult working conditions.
The Italians were the largest migrant group in Wittenoom among the 52 groups listed.
To meet their financial goals, the Italians were desperate to find work or earn
higher wages
than those on offer in other parts of Western Australia. Many took their families. The high
cost of living, the need to repay debts and send remittances to family meant it took longer to
save. This led to longer stays; some Italian families would remain as many as ten years.
Others could not tolerate the working conditions and the climate: nearly half the workers left
within four months of their arrival.
For most of the people with whom I spoke, Wittenoom made a substantial
contribution to their achievement of
sistemazione in Italy or Western Australia. Nevertheless,
they also live with the legacy of Wittenoom — the death of loved ones to asbestos-related
disease, as a
result of asbestos exposure, and the fear that they too could still develop
mesothelioma nearly fifty years after Wittenoom’s closure.
* * * * *
Two bodies of existing literature, the history of Italian migration and writings on the
global asbestos industry and asbestos-related diseases, have been particularly helpful in
providing the context for my work and I will refer to them throughout the body of the thesis.
However, most of this work overlooks the Wittenoom Italians.
8
The history of Italian migration has proven very useful, for historically it has
established the reasons for Italians’ migration decisions and their subsequent experiences.
5
Within this body of history, most studies on Italian migration to Australia and Western
Australia and
related issues of the family, caring and aged care and emotional and moral
support overlook the Wittenoom Italians, apart from Iuliano’s 2010 study.
6
Pertinent to the
Italian migration context of this research, Western Australian historians, Baldassar, Vellecoop
Baldock and Wilding
note that most studies of Italian migration in
the past have concentrated
on two main themes: Italians as labourers with a focus on the political, climate and economic
reasons for their migrations, and migrants as ethnic populations in specific host-nation
contexts focusing on identity and integration issues.
7
The former is discussed by a range of
historians including Bosworth, Gabaccia and Sassen.
8
Historians such as Collins, Alcorso
and Borrie address the latter theme.
9
None of these studies makes reference to the
Wittenoom Italians. Furthermore, the children who went to Wittenoom were also
overlooked
5
See, for example,
Baldassar, L. & Pesman, R. (2005),
From Paesani to Global Italians: Veneto
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: 
