Location: International Womens Day > Media » International Women's Day Address by Carla Zampatti
International Women's Day Address by Carla Zampatti
Great Hall, Parliament House
8 March 2006
The Honourable Minister Bishop, ladies and gentlemen – good afternoon, and I’m delighted to be asked to speak about diversity. It’s a subject that is really close to my heart. I’m in fact passionate about that subject. I have a philosophical belief that diversity is good, but I’m not going to talk philosophy you’ll be happy to know. But I will talk about my personal and professional experience of diversity.
When I first arrived in Australia I was a 9 year old and we went to live in Western Australia and we went to a small mining town in the middle of Western Australia, close to Kalgoorlie, and my first day of school I can clearly remember. My teacher had never met a child who couldn’t speak English. She didn’t quite know what to do with me so she gave me paper and pencils, sent me to the back of the class to draw, and looked at my name and said, “Carla unpronounceable”, looked at me second name which is Maria and she thought, ‘no’. “Maybe we’ll call you Mary, that’s probably more appropriate.” So I was known as Mary for something like 10 or 15 years.
I really loved Australia instantly. It was a great adventure for me. For a 9 year old it’s not a hardship – it’s adventure. And I wanted to belong, I wanted to be like the other kids so I initially started rejecting all Italian things. I learnt English quickly and I started rejecting, including my mother’s lunch – especially my mother’s lunch because it had smelly salami and things like that. So I think this need to belong is very strong in most people arriving – new arrivals. I really do. This feeling of belonging and being part of the main group I think is a great … it’s a great driver. It’s the reason why we work so hard and we want to start businesses and we push our children in education to learn and become professionals.
Migration I think has been the powerhouse for Australian business. I see evidence of this every year as a judge of the Ethnic Business Awards. I think it’s been running for something like 15 years. These newcomers have created businesses and export opportunities that would never have happened without their energy and drive and their contacts. They have contacts in other places so they really use that contact for export. They have succeeded through their determination to do good, and to give back to the country that has given them that opportunity.
There’s also lifestyle benefits. I mean let’s face it, when I arrived – I’ve been around a long time – there were no cappuccinos and the wine was regarded as … it was called plonk I think. And that exotic wonderful meeting of east and west in our cuisine hadn’t happened. Also there are many other benefits like cultural benefits – concerts, operas. In fact the Musica Viva I believe was started by some Europeans in the 1950s.
Franco Bel Jours Nonettas (??) gave us the Australian Beanali (??). In fact he financed it single-handedly for many, many years, as well as creating a massive business. Frank Lowy gave us the Westfield Institute as well as creating and founding the Westfield group which is a phenomenon. It’s the second largest in the world shopping centre manager and developer. They are in the United States. They are even bigger in the United States and there’s only one other group that is slightly bigger than them. They are phenomenal. And there are many others.
Arriving in this country without contacts or financial security helped me understand that even in the fashion business, if you don’t make a profit you don’t stay in business. I was determined to succeed in business, but even in my wildest dreams I didn’t realise that this success would give me other wonderful opportunities. I could never have imagined being asked to be a trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales or to be invited to be on the Chair of the … not Chair, but being a member of the Board of the Sydney Theatre Company Trust or Westfield or Macdonalds or the Multicultural Council. And for the past six years I’ve been honoured and very privileged to be chairing SBS.
When I was first offered SBS I really hesitated. I thought I have no broadcast experience. How can I do this? I like to add value in whatever I do and I wasn’t sure how. But my son, who’s not usually that supportive, convinced me that I should. He said you’re a migrant, you understand newcomers’ needs, and you’re a founder of a creative business and you’re a manager and you should accept. So I did. And I’m really happy to say that SBS has gone from strength to strength in that time. Audience has grown. SBS is watched, not only by newcomers now, but also by the wider community, which is an indicator that more and more Australians are embracing diversity. They’re watching programs like Jenny Brockie’s Insight and Dateline and also other comedies like Pizza and John Safran vs God. These are programs that challenge stereotype – that poke fun and ask questions, and in their own way make us aware of the richness of the diversity of our communities.
We also commission and broadcast many other Australian documentaries, movies, dramas, which show Australia as it is today and promote young talent. Our latest drama is RAN – Remote Area Nurse, which portrays life in a remote area that most of us have never been to and probably never will be there, but it does give us a broader insight of our country.
Then there’s SBS radio. It began as an information tool for newcomers to enable them to understand our law and regulations, but it has become much more than that. It makes newcomers feel welcome and helps them overcome the difficulties of the early years of settlement. It addresses that feeling of alienation and isolation which can cause rebellious behaviour.
The Board believes that it is important that our management, as far as it can, reflects the diversity of our social community, and we have made that a key obligation of our corporate plan. It’s the Board role to oversee the smooth and efficient running of SBS but it’s not our role to interfere with programming. We really try very hard not to do this although sometimes we do have an opinion, and I guess it would be our role, if something went terribly wrong and it was damaging the network, we may interfere but not otherwise.
So how can we as women become the leading voice in promoting diversity and creating a cohesive society? Women in business, especially in senior levels, are a minority. We know how it feels to be overlooked. We have experience to share – experiences that enable us to better understand the importance of inclusiveness and making people feel welcome. We can help newcomers adjust. We can help them by giving them opportunities. For instance my business. It’s not just me – I’m sure you all know that. The key ingredient is the people, talented people who have made the business a great success. In my head office we have ten different nationalities and in my design room five out of six are born elsewhere. This mix is dynamic. Different cultures, different experiences and different perspectives. They play off each other to create the best ideas and the best solutions.
In this government we have now three Cabinet Ministers who are women. They are not only making history, they are shining examples of leadership – Amanda Vanstone in Immigration, Helen Coonan in Communication and the Arts and Julie Bishop in Education. What better opportunity for leadership by example than these three ministers in these three very important portfolios to show the benefit of diversity. Thank you.