Enterprise Tribute Garden, Springvale,Victoria

The Enterprise Tribute Garden is located in the grounds of Lexington Gardens aged care facility in Spingvale, an outer suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The 'tribute' remembers the site's prior use as the Enterprise Hostel, an Australian Government reception facility for migrants and refugees.

Marking a mid-point between the post-war programs that saw non-British migrants housed in ex-army barracks in remote locations, the Enterprise Hostel was seen as a new approach, where migrants were offered up to 12 months of supported hostel-style accommodation (depending on need) to assist their transition to life in Australia. The Hostel opened in 1970, initially housing mostly migrants. From the mid-1970s onwards, many of the residents were refugees, and for a short time it also operated as a detention facility for a group of Cambodian refugees. Closing for a short time 1985-1988, the Enterprise finally shut its doors in 1992.

The idea to create some kind of acknowledgement came from long-term Springvale residents who had been connected to the Hostel in various ways - through the Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau and the Neighbourhood House, as teachers and in local government. They wanted to pay tribute to the important role the Hostel had played in the development of their community, which they see as being enriched and transformed by the people who came through the Hostel. The project originally began as an exhibition titled "A Worthwhile Enterprise" developed for the Victorian Immigration Museum's community program. The exhibition developed into an oral history collection and online exhibition now accessible at www.enterprisehostel.org.

The title of this site is "Not a Celebration"; the memorial is certainly a celebration in many ways. However, the Tribute Garden marks the point of arrival for people who were leaving behind homes and families, often in difficult or even traumatic circumstances. For those people, it marks not only a new beginning, but a place to reflect on the events or reasons leading to their migration. For members of the Enterprise Migrant Hostel History Project team, it also serves as a reminder of the stark difference between the ethics of care and welcome shown to migrants and refugees arriving at that time, compared to current policies.

Clockwise from top: Heather, Betty and Merle
worked with migrants during the Enterprise years,
and want the story to be told. 

The Tribute Garden was developed after by landscape architecture firm Sinatra Murphy, and involved extensive community consultation. A circular path through a bed of roses, representing the often winding path of migration. The rose itself is a specially developed hybrid called the Enterprise Rose, significant because the well-tended rose beds at the front of the Enterprise Hostel were often part of migrants' first impressions of Australia, and became a symbol of the care they received.

The path leads to a central area where a wooden bench lists the number of migrants received. Two digi-glass panels shaped like rose petals are printed with a map of the world. Bubbles/droplets run in streams between two opens hands and the various countries from which migrants were received.

The Tribute Garden is part of the larger, ongoing project to tell the story of the Enterprise Hostel and how "how strong, cohesive, vibrant communities can be built when migrants and refugees are warmly welcomed through unique, innovative settlement programs based on welcome, support and respect." 

Another smaller rose garden and plaque are located outside the Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau, and eventually the plan is to have a path of remembrance running through Springvale from Lexington Gardens to a newly developed community space at the local library.

Peace Park Mosaic, Noble Park

The Peace Park Mosaic began life in 1994 as Landcare Environmental Action Program (LEAP) community art project. Lead by Artist and museum curator Kitty Owens, then a recent university graduate, led an oral history project working with young refugees and migrants from the local area, Christine Mae Chua, DC June Isiderio, Carlo Rivas, Hawaa Fikak, Wajesta Ezadyar, Chan Chiem, Siemchou Vongsikeo, Liam Chi Dang.
The mosaic mural that grew from the project is a war memorial with a difference, expressing the experience of conflict from the perspective of civilians.
A printed tile plaque reads:

This mural is dedicated to the friends and relatives of this area who died in war and to those people we have been separated from in the process of migration.
It is also a celebration of peace.

So, although it is dedicated to people who died, it also acknowledges another form of loss, that caused by separation. Behind this story, is also the story of the traumatic experience of living through war.
Originally attached to the wall of the Noble Park RSL (Return Services League), the mural needed to be removed because of building renovations in 2003. Ann Clark and Libby McKinnon had also been involved as leaders in the original project, and Libby was engaged to undertake restoration work.
The memorial is now four separate panels, with parts of the original mosaic on each panel. Although it does not have the same sense of story-telling as the original artwork, it still manages to convey the sense of loss and the pain of separation caused by war.

On thing that is really nice about this memorial is that it is located within the same space as the local war memorial. In fact, it takes up the space between the traditional war memorial and the Noble Park RSL building. In this sense, it is an ongoing reminder that war has consequences for ordinary people, not only for soldiers. This seems like an important thing to emphasize in Australia. The 2003 restoration project was undertaken because the RSL recognised the significance of this memorial. 

The Enterprise Migrant Hostel in nearby Springvale had only closed a few years before this project began, connecting this project to a more recent memorial project, the Enterprise Tribute Garden. One of the aims of that memorial is to draw attention to the difference between the welcoming, supportive refugee policies of the 1970s and 80s and today's punitive offshore processing regime.