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In 1904, the Sunday Times, a Perth-based Western Australian newspaper, printed an article titled "The Alien Invasion." In an alarmist and fiercely racialized tone, the article informed readers that the introduction of "mottled colored labor" from Asia and Southern Europe had placed a "heavy handicap" on "white labor of all classes." Of particular concern were the business practices of Greeks in the gold mining town of Kalgoorlie. "Men from Greece," the correspondent noted, "who figure as proprietors of eating-houses and saloons, find their fellow-countrymen employment" and "do not attempt competition in the legitimate labor spheres." Western Australia, it was concluded, would be better off should "basket-hawking Greeks" be prevented from entering the country (Sunday Times 21 February 1904, 11).
Later, in 1906, a yacht flying the Greek flag sailed toward a picnic site on the banks of Swan River in the Western Australian capital of Perth. The yacht carried a distinguished visitor, Reverend Athanasios Kantopoulos, the first Greek Orthodox priest to visit Australia. As the yacht approached the gathering of some two hundred and fifty people, spectators erupted into a chorus of the Greek national anthem. The next day, the Western Mail described the outing as "enjoyable" and "unique": the "ancient Grecian custom … of roasting 'a la spit'" took place and "toasts were submitted" to the health "of the Kings of England and Greece" and "the Country we Live in." The event was described as a "consolidation of the race, for the improvement of their status in the land of their adoption" ("The Greek Community," Western Mail, 24 February 1906, 44).
The photographs that accompanied the Western Mail story are rich in meaning. A central image of Rev. Kantopoulos surrounded by the sizeable cohort, including many Greek women and children, suggests an uninterrupted continuation of the Orthodox faith in the Australian bush, while also showcasing how Greeks were living, working, and profiting in Western Australia. Another image depicts a roasting lamb—a man lifts his hat in joyful recognition of the occasion and another, somewhat hazed out by the smoke, attends to the coals. Poised under wilting gum trees, the rest of the group elatedly gaze toward the photographer ("The Greek Picnic and Feast," Western Mail, 3 March 1906, 28). The...