Free Our Australian Girl by Lucia Masciullo Page B

since their failed escape attempt. Christmas was just over a month away, and then Flora would be leaving for Sydney. I can’t bear to think of her alone in another strange city, Daisy thought. She shifted on the wooden bench again. How I wish Dad would just fling open that door, burst in and tell me he’s got Flora and we’re going back to the farm. That would be perfect. She knew now that it couldn’t have been Dad at the Cup. There was no way he would have been in the city and not come to see us, she thought.
    The front door opened and a couple stood in the doorway before a Day Girl showed them into the Superintendent’s office, but Daisy was so caught up in her own thoughts that she barely noticed them. The Cottage Mothers will be watching Edith and I more closely now I suppose, she thought, but surely there must be another way to escape?
    Edith started to snore, resting her head on Daisy’s shoulder. ‘Wake up,’ Daisy hissed.
    â€˜Daisy Sanderson,’ a stern voice called.
    â€˜Oh, for goodness sake! All I said was two little words.’ Daisy looked up expecting to see the angry face of Miss Dunham, but instead Miss McCracken was beckoning to her.
    â€˜Ummm,’ Daisy said in confusion and pointed to herself. ‘Me?’
    â€˜Are there any other Daisy Sandersons here?’ Miss McCracken said.
    â€˜Ah . . .  no,’ Daisy answered and got up slowly from the bench, trying to stretch some life back into her tired legs.
    â€˜Hurry up then, girl, we don’t have all day.’
    Daisy stumbled up the hall, the stares of the children following her slow walk.
    â€˜Come in here, Daisy,’ Miss McCracken said, pushing her into the Superintendent’s office. ‘Come and meet your new parents.’

I was born in a hospital where geckos ran across the walls and monkeys played outside the windows. The hospital was in a country called Malaysia. My parents lived in Malaysia for three years because my dad was in the Australian Army and the army sent him there.
    I came to live in Australia when I was two, and my parents and brother and I lived with my grandparents and aunty in a big double-storey house near the sea. Like Daisy, we had lots of pets. A few years later my little sister was born, and I took care of her the way Daisy takes care of Flora. Even though Daisy’s life was very different to mine, and very different to yours today, the one thing that never changes for Australian girls is the importance of family.

I was born and grew up in Italy, a beautiful country to visit, but also a difficult country to live in for new generations.
    In 2006, I packed up my suitcase and I left Italy with the man I love. We bet on Australia. I didn’t know much about Australia before coming – I was just looking for new opportunities, I guess.
    And I liked it right from the beginning! Australian people are resourceful, open-minded and always with a smile on their faces. I think all Australians keep in their blood a bit of the pioneer heritage, regardless of their own birthplace.
    Here I began a new life and now I’m doing what I always dreamed of: I illustrate stories. Here is the place where I’d like to live and to grow up my children, in a country that doesn’t fear the future.

I N the Melbourne Museum, you can see a scrapbook that was put together by a lady called Marie Davie. The scrapbook is full of newspaper clippings and pictures to do with Phar Lap, the famous racehorse. Marie wrote poems to Phar Lap, and her friends knew all about her project and often gave her things about him to paste in. In the 1930s, Marie Davie wouldn’t have been alone in her love of the great horse. It was partly because of the era he lived in that Phar Lap became so famous and adored.
    As you will know from Daisy’s story, the Depression was a terrible time for most people in Australia. It was a time of hardship and despair, unemployment and