29/09/06 – GENERATORS GET BEHIND MIGRANT WALL OF RECOGNITION

The Latrobe Valley‘s major power generators have banded together and pledged $40,000 to support Gippsland’s Immigration Wall of Recognition at Kernot Hall.

International Power Hazelwood, Loy Yang Power, TRUenergy Yallourn and International Power-Mitsui Loy Yang B have each recently contributed $5000 with another $20,000 pledged for early next year from the four generating companies.

The Immigration Wall of Recognition is the brainchild of local identity Don DiFabrizio and the Italian Australian Co-ordinating Committee of Gippsland however the wall acknowledges all immigrants who have lived and worked in Gippsland over the past 150 years.

The Migrant Wall of Recgonition, which will be constructed across the lake from Kernot Hall, will also feature a bronze sculpture, a community deck that extends over the lake, an open area for recreation and barbecue facilities. The wall of recognition will list the names of migrants, the country of their origin and the date of their arrival.

Loy Yang Power Chief Executive Ian Nethercote said that Gippsland’s migrant population had contributed a great deal to the region’s development and prosperity. The wall is a fantastic way to recognise their efforts well into the future.

“They have come from all over the world and they have built a community,” Ian said.

Chief Executive Officer Graeme York said International Power Hazelwood was very enthusiastic to be supporting the project.

“The construction of our power station in the 1960′s was achieved with the contributions of many migrants including Don himself,” he said.

“Italian, Maltese, Greek, Dutch, German, British and people from so many other countries have helped build the power industry and shape the communities we all live in.”

TRUenergy Yallourn General Manager Mark Pearson said that it was important for the younger generation not to forget their origins and how important a role their parents and grand parents played in building a great community.

“Young families will be able to come to this park and they will be able to better understand what their parents and grandparents contributed and it will help them carry on the traditions.”

International Power Mitsui Loy Yang B Plant Manager Alistair Tompkin said that the migrant wall provided a unique and important opportunity for the local power generators to band together to recognise their contributions made by migrants to the electricity industry.

“Many people took an enormous personal risk to leave their family and friends to start a new life in Australia. I think Gippsland has benefited greatly not just from those who immigrated but the legacy they will leave as their children now live and work in the Latrobe Valley,” Alistair said.

ENDS