Highlights
- Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio spoke about the considerable contribution of Lebanese immigrants to the region.
- Marie and Beshara Ramia left the town of the Bekaa Zahle in 1931 to settle in Toowoomba in a small house on James Street, which is full of memories, both happy and sad.
- A more recent migration was by the Wigan "Oueigan" family which came from Batroun in northern Lebanon, where grandfather Tanios was nicknamed the “King of Lemonade”.
In 2013, Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio oversaw the declaration of the region, 125km west of Brisbane, as a .
At the time, the council was only the third local government area in Queensland to adopt the status.
There are now 42 councils Australia-wide designated as Refugee Welcome Zones with the initiative launched 20 years ago as a part of celebrations.
Mr Antonio has been Mayor of Toowoomba, known as the "Garden City", since 2012 and has more than 30 years' experience in local government.
He said he considered Toowoomba to be a vibrant region with a prosperous and strong economy and stability in the health and education sectors:
"We have a vast area of 13,000 square kilometres including some of the richest farmland you can find anywhere in the world and the private sector in Toowoomba at all levels is very active,” he said.
Mr Antonio said Australia was a land of opportunity and a favoured destination for immigrants who came from many countries to start new lives, including his own ancestors.
Toowoomba Regional Council Mayor Paul Antonio with his Lebanese friend Joe Ramia and SBS journalist Petra Taok. Source: Petra Taok
"If you look at my family, my name is Portuguese. My grandfather emigrated and married an Irish woman, and their son married a Scottish woman. My mother comes from a refugee family from Germany, so Australia has always been a land of opportunity for everyone,” he said.
Mr Antonio singled out Lebanese immigrants to Toowoomba for their success in a wide range of fields.
“The Lebanese community here in Toowoomba has a very good reputation for working hard and has the ability to innovate in everything it does,” he said.
There are many Lebanese private sector contributors here who work hard, stick together, work together, and they've made a real difference in this community.
The Toowoomba Regional Council recognition wall. Source: Petra Taok
Mr Antonio recounted how the local Lebanese community had rallied around Mrs Ramia, Joe’s mother, who was wheelchair-bound and did not speak much English, following the premature death of her husband.
“There are moments in my life that have been cruel and in difficult times, you don’t forget the people who stand by you and care about you and my friend Joe is one of these people,” Mr Antonio said.
“My good and generous friend holds on to his Lebanese heritage, and in life, you discover who your real friends are. When you look at Joe’s story, you can’t help but be amazed.”
Mr Ramia told SBS Arabic24 about the story of his parents Marie and Beshara, who left Bekaa Zahle in 1931 to settle in Toowoomba.
Beshara emigrated first and got a job in Melbourne then settled in Toowoomba, where many Lebanese immigrants were, he said.
Lebanese Australian Joe Ramia who migrated to Toowoomba with his parents in 1931, with SBS journalist Petra Taok at the Toowoomba Regional Council. Source: Petra Taok
When he got his next job as a fruit seller from the back of a pickup truck, he brought his wife to Toowoomba and the couple lived in a small house on James Street, which was full of Lebanese memories, both happy and sad.
Mr Ramia said he was born in 1947 and his father died five years later.
“There were times when there wasn't a lot of medical help …and we virtually had to work to provide money and then the government recognised people from the Middle East and mum got a pension,” he said.
“It was a very difficult time. My mother couldn't speak a single word in English.”
I didn't understand Arabic, I spoke English, and my mum spoke Arabic and she didn't understand English.
Mr Ramia said he would never forget where his parents had come from and their struggles to raise him.
Unfortunately, he said he had not been able to fulfill his heart’s desire to visit his family’s home town in Lebanon because his trip had been postponed nearly 10 years ago due to war and security concerns.
It would be good to go see where mum and dad were born.
Sixty years ago, fellow Lebanese Australian migrant, Tony Wigan, recalled his family's journey from the tourist mecca of Batroun in northern Lebanon.
Mr Wigan, who was five at the time, said his ancestors, named Oueigan, had always lived in the 5000-year-old coastal city, situated about 50 kilometres from the capital Beirut.
Mr Wigan said his earliest memory of moving to Australia was of looking at a still green river instead of a picturesque beach.
Tony’s father, George Oueigan, worked at the American refinery in Tripoli in 1962 while his family was in Australia. At that time, the immigrant family was sponsoring relatives to join them in Australia.
Tony Wigan who migrated with his father George Aouyjan to Australia in 1962. Source: Tony Wigan
Mr Oueigan said his father was now 97 years old and the pair often reflected on their 60-year-old migration and stability journey.
"We sit together and remember Lebanon and the places we used to visit. My memory returns to my childhood places when I was two years old," he said.
He told the story of grandfather Tanios Al-Abd, nicknamed “Oueigan”, who, together with his 13 children, prepared and sold a famous lemonade to travellers and tourists from Batroun to Beirut.
My grandfather was known as the ‘King of Lemonade’ in Batroun and he created the most famous drink.
His father's migration was not free of challenges and sacrifices, so, like many immigrants, he had had to change his career, Mr Wigan said.
"My father had been an electrician (in Lebanon) but gave up is career to open a shoe repair shop (in Toowoomba),” he said.
Mr Wigan said he celebrated Toowoomba’s position as a very multicultural city through his local radio presence which reached out to immigrants from all backgrounds.
He said he’d never forget his grandmother’s tears at Beirut Airport when he had left for Australia.
Grandmother Noor in Lebanon with her children who migrated to Australia sponsoring her son's family in 1962. Source: Tony Wigan
“My grandmother was crying and saying ‘Virgin (Mary), bring them back to me,’ and unfortunately it was the last time I saw my grandmother,” he said.
