Top 5 Migration Memorials of Australia

Following is a list of top 5 migration memorials of Australia one must visit at least once in a lifetime:

 ‘The Reuniting Family’, Melbourne CBD: An emotional moment of family reunion captured by sculptor ‘Michael Meszaros’ and commissioned by the ‘Grollo-Ruzzene Foundation’, this sculpture honors Italian immigration to Australia.

 ‘The Pioneer Memorial’, Glenelg, South Australia: Engraved with the names of many European explorers and settlers, and topped with a replica of the ‘Buffalo’, this memorial speaks about how South Australians wished to see themselves and their history in the year 1936, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the free settler colony. It is one of those memorials that bear a Latin phrase meaning - ‘if you seek a memorial, look around you’!

 ‘The Welcome Wall’, Australian National Maritime Museum, Darling Harbour, Sydney: Launched in the year 1997 and unveiled in the year 1999, the Welcome Wall remains Australia’s only national memorial to migrants. More than 25,000 names have been registered by the migrants, their friends and family or descendants. Some of them have contributed information and tales to the ‘Virtual Welcome Wall’ online.

 ‘Child Migrants Memorial’, Western Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle: Located close to the Western Australian Welcome Walls, this memorial observes the 3000 Maltese and British children who had been sent to Western Australia by charitable and religious organizations as ‘unaccompanied’ child migrants. It was completed in 2005. Memorials to child migrants and others now known as ‘forgotten Australians’ can also be found in Perth, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Hobart.

 ‘The Bonds of Friendship’, Sydney CBD: This memorial and its companion sculpture in England, commemorate the starting point and endpoint of the journey of the 11 ships of the ‘First Fleet’ in the year 1787-88, and the links forged between the 2 port cities as a result. It was unveiled in the year 1980.