Betty is building a life in Australia while keeping family and culture close
When Betty moved from New Zealand to Australia at 25, she arrived with two young children, about $70 and a determination to create a better future for her family.
She originally planned to stay for five years. More than four decades later, Australia is home.
“I was looking for a fresh start,” Betty said. “My mother didn’t want me to come over, or she wanted me to leave the children behind. But I didn’t think I would cope without my kids around me.”
Betty initially stayed with her sister and brother-in-law in the Blue Mountains. There were few services available to help newly arrived families at the time, so her priority was finding work.
Unsure which direction to take, Betty enrolled in a nursing course. It proved to be the beginning of a long career.
“One thing about Australia was that you had the opportunity to find a job,” she said. “I didn’t have that opportunity in New Zealand, so nothing stopped me. It was wonderful. I really loved Australia.”
As Betty built a new life in Australia, she held onto the traditions that reminded her of home.
Betty grew up as one of 14 children, with seven children in her mother’s first family and seven in her second.
With 14 children to feed, her mother was constantly preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner. Betty and her siblings helped gather vegetables, herbs and other ingredients from the garden and surrounding paddocks.
“My mother was always a cook,” Betty said. “Food was always being served and Mum was always home.”
One of Betty’s fondest memories is her mother’s fried bread. She remembers being able to smell it cooking before she had even reached the house.
“When we used to go and visit Mum, I could smell her fried bread down the street,” she said. “I knew she’d cooked it.”
Betty still makes fried bread, although she says she has never quite mastered her mother’s technique.
Another family favourite is boil-up, a traditional Māori dish made with ingredients such as watercress or pūhā, sweet potato and potato, cooked together in a large pot.
Whenever Betty prepares it, her children make sure they are there to share it.
“They won’t cook it. They’ll wait for Mum to do it all,” she laughed. “They all come home and feast on the boil-up, and then they’re happy until the next time.”
These meals are more than familiar recipes. They connect Betty’s children with their family, culture and the memories she carried with her from New Zealand.
For Betty, passing these traditions on is especially important because she did not grow up with a strong connection to her Māori heritage.
Her father died before she was born. After her mother remarried, the family moved away from the area where Betty’s father’s family lived. As a result, she did not grow up with a strong connection to that side of her family.
As an adult, Betty began researching her family history with a cousin, helping her better understand where she came from.
“It helped me as a person to know where my roots were,” she said. “Not knowing that when I was a child, it made me understand more about my culture. I think it made me grow as a person.”
Today, her home displays family records, carvings and other items that reflect her culture.
She hopes her children will also take an interest in their family history and understand the generations who came before them.
“You’ve got to keep the culture alive in yourself so that it’s not lost,” she said. “Being in a different country, your children still need to know that side of the family. It helps to ground them and know where they’re really from.”
After leaving the Blue Mountains, Betty visited Newcastle and decided it was where she wanted to settle. She has lived in the region since 1989.
“I picked Newcastle, came up here to have a look and I’ve been here ever since,” she said. “I love it.”
Betty later experienced a relationship breakdown and a period without a stable home. At the same time, she was caring for a son with disability and needed to live in an area where he could access suitable schools and support.
Having a secure Home in Place property has given Betty the stability she needed.
“I feel privileged that I actually have this,” she said. “When I see so many people struggling because they don’t have a roof over their head, it’s the major thing you need in your life.”
For Betty, a home is somewhere she can feel safe, display her family history, cook for her children and remain connected to her culture.
“I love it,” she said. “I’m very privileged to have a home and to have this home. It’s a blessing.”
Betty has also embraced opportunities to connect with others through community activities. Since moving to the area, she has learned more about the services, events and groups available to her and has reconnected with people she knew many years ago.
She also attends a local Māori cultural group, where regular gatherings provide an opportunity to share food, maintain traditions and stay connected with the wider community.
After building a new life in Australia, raising her children and reconnecting with an important part of her heritage, Betty’s home now brings the different parts of her story together.
It is a place of safety and security, but also one filled with family, food, culture and belonging.
