Tony Buti

Tony Buti’s family story is one of hope and determination – of leaving behind postwar hardship in search of security and opportunity in Western Australia. It begins with his grandfather, Giuseppe Bertone, who migrated in the early 1920s with his cousin Francesco. They joined other Italian workers in Kalgoorlie before settling in the south-west.

The intense heat of Australia drove Francesco to return to Delianuova in Calabria and later to migrate to Canada with relatives, where most of the extended family of Tony’s mother, Mimma,  eventually settled. Giuseppe, however, chose to remain in Australia. He had left behind a wife and child in Italy, returning briefly in 1926. When his wife became pregnant again, he came back to Australia, only to later receive the heartbreaking news that their second child had died of pneumonia at 22 months. In time, Guiseppe’s wife joined him in Collie with their surviving son, and together they began a new life.

After the Second World War, the great Italian diaspora reshaped communities across Western Australia. Economic crisis and few prospects pushed many to look abroad. Under the Italian–Australian Assisted Passage Scheme, young men like Tony’s father, Andrea, seized the chance for a new life. Andrea sailed on the Castel Bianco, arriving in Fremantle on 29 March 1952. Just 21 and alone, with no English, he met prejudice almost immediately. In Tony’s inaugural speech in the Legislative Assembly decades later, he recalled how his father was scolded by a boss for speaking to a young woman on a bus and derided as a ‘dago’. Language remained a raw wound for Andrea, yet he persevered – taking whatever work he could, learning to navigate two cultures and holding fast to his Italian identity while finding a place in his new homeland.

Mimma, Tony’s mother, was born in Roelands and raised in Yarloop, where many Italian families had settled around the timber industry. She remembered a welcoming school community, but her own mother – Tony’s nonna – felt the ache of separation from family in Italy and the barrier of limited English. Later, when the family moved, Tony’s memories of his nonna are of fierce love paired with firm discipline – ‘very loving, but very strict’. She lived with them until her passing in 1969.

Tony, aged 2, pictured in Collie, 1963. 
Credit: Minister Tony Buti

Tony at St Brigid’s Convent, around 1966. His early years were shaped by learning, faith and close community ties.
Credit: Minister Tony Buti

Growing up, Tony experienced shifting currents of belonging. His early years in Collie felt relatively comfortable within a community of Italian and Polish families. The move to Armadale, however, was harder. At Kingsley Primary School, most classmates were recent arrivals from the United Kingdom. Tony remembers going home in tears after enduring slurs and thoughtless  treatment. ‘It was appalling. It made me not want to be Italian,’ he recalls.

With his father working away and his mother speaking English at home, Tony felt awkward about his heritage. From about 10 to 14, he withdrew – fighting back when teased, trying not to stand out and distancing himself from his Italian identity. As he grew older, he learned instead to deflect prejudice with humour.

By his late teens, attitudes had shifted and ‘being Italian’ had even become fashionable. Tony regrets ever withdrawing from his heritage and has spent his adulthood reconnecting. He studied the history of wartime internment in Yarloop and Harvey for a university paper, travelled to Italy in the mid-1980s (despite a disastrous first night when his passport was stolen) and later returned with his own family. Meeting relatives in Florence brought an enduring sense of homecoming.

Tony with his mother Mimma in Collie with his siblings, reflecting the strength and unity of family life, 1967
Credit: Minister Tony Buti

Hospitality was the constant thread. In the Buti household, the door was always open and the table always full. Andrea often said that no one ever left a ‘foodie’ household hungry. Tony continues the tradition, gathering people to share meals – what he calls the truest expression of Italian culture. His favourites remain the dishes his mother cooked, especially gnocchi and stuffed capsicums. With Mimma now gone, he is learning to make gnocchi himself, guided by treasured film of her hands at work.

Tony’s public life has been shaped by these memories. As a State parliamentarian and Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests, he championed recognition of Italian migrants’ contributions and the injustices many endured. One of his proudest moments was the parliament’s formal apology to Italians who were unjustly interned during the Second World War, including his grandfather who was detained in the Harvey camp. In the research and oral histories Tony recorded, local farmers and businesses recalled the men’s strong work ethic, even as their families carried the burden at home.

Tony being sworn into WA Labor’s Cabinet as Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Interests by Governor Kim Beazley, 2021.
Credit: Minister Tony Buti

Tony often speaks to today’s migrants, offering the advice he wishes his father had received –learn as much English as possible, seize opportunities, take risks and ‘give it a go’. He sees Western Australia’s diversity as a source of strength and enterprise, with people’s different backgrounds bringing fresh ideas, energy and ambition. Italians helped build the State through timber, mining, construction, agriculture and food – clearing land for suburbs, running market gardens and orchards and enriching everyday life with coffee and cuisine. Andrea himself worked on major building sites into his late sixties, often in harsh conditions up north, and was always first on the hiring list for his reputation as a tireless worker.

Fittingly, the arc of the story bends towards education. Andrea was determined his children would study, and Tony credits his parents’ constant example – ‘hard work wins, be honest, never show off’ – with opening his path to university and public service. The Italians Tony knew as a boy were mostly labourers – only later did he connect ‘Italian’ with doctor, teacher or lawyer. Because of people like his parents, the next generation could imagine – and achieve – such futures.

Tony with his parents, Andrea and Mimma, celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary, 2003
Credit: Minister Tony Buti

Today, Tony continues to reconnect with the heritage that shaped him – taking his children to Italy, keeping family ties and traditions alive and ensuring his table remains a place of culture and belonging. His family’s journey – from Collie kitchens to construction camps and from Yarloop memories to Parliament House – honours the resilience of migrants who built lives here with their hands and their hearts. Their legacy lives on in Western Australia’s skyline and suburbs, in orchards and dinner tables and in the stories passed from parent to child – work hard, be kind and always make room at the table.

Celebrating his swearing-in in March 2021, Tony with Cabinet colleagues Rita Saffioti and Paul Papalia. He was appointed Minister for Finance, Lands, Sport and Recreation, and Citizenship and Multicultural Interests. 
Credit: Minister Tony Buti