Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) Player Relations Manager and its longest serving President Simon Colosimo becomes the latest member to be honoured by the Australian National Maritime Museum’s Welcome Wall.
The former Socceroo and his family were joined by 600 guests at a special ceremony, which saw 370 new names unveiled.
With the Welcome Wall standing in honour of all those who have migrated from around the world to live in Australia, Colosimo gave a speech where he reflected on his own family’s migration from Italy and was joined by three migrant speakers who also had their names placed on the wall.
“Football is widely regarded as Australia’s most multicultural sport and one that certainly prides itself on its universal values,” said Colosimo.
“It was an honour to be part of something that is such an important symbol of our nation’s rich cultural history.
“The players are committed to promoting equality and multiculturalism and see the PFA’s relationship with the Australian National Maritime Museum as an important part in this.”
The National Maritime Museum unveils new names on the Welcome Wall twice a year. This was the 35th unveiling ceremony bringing the total number of names on the wall to 27,414.
More than 200 countries are represented on the migrant Welcome Wall. Of these 7512 are from England, 3363 from Italy, 1620 from The Netherlands, 1615 from Germany, 1535 from Scotland, 1319 from Ireland and 959 from Greece.
As a multicultural nation with one in four of Australia’s 23 million people born outside Australia, the Welcome Wall is a celebration of diversity. It allows today’s Australians to pay tribute to migrant forebears, family members and friends by having their names inscribed on it.
The Welcome Wall sits on the museum’s northern boundary, facing Darling Harbour and Pyrmont Bay where many new settlers arrived. It was opened in 1999 by His Excellency Sir William Deane, Governor General of Australia, and stands in honour of all those who have migrated from around the world and now live in Australia.
TheWelcome Wall unveiling ceremony is supported by Professional Footballers Australia – www.pfa.net.au.
For further information on the Welcome Wall or to register a name, phone (02) 9298 3667 or visit www.anmm.gov.au/ww.
