Anyone in the world would say that Waltzing Matilda is a ballad associated with Australia. There were times that it was also considered by some that it was the National Anthem of Australia. However, the Maltese in Australia and also those of Malta would associate the name Waltzing Matilda to a tv programme which deals mainly with the way of life the Maltese in Australia lead.
The programme was the brainchild of actress/broadcaster Josephine Zammit Cordina who after spending years in Egypt and in England considered herself as a migrant far away from her homeland. At the same time Josephine already was transmitting on radio a programme called Il-Boomerang which had the same aim.
Mrs Zammit Cordina had spent some months in Australia with her parents who used to frequent that continent for a holiday. While on such visits she used to broadcast programmes on radio 2EA, eventually being the SBS Radio. In 1993 she again visited Australia where she was to be presented by the Manuel de Vilhena Award by the Harmonic 65 of Melbourne for her outstanding contribution to the propagation of Maltese Arts and Culture in Australia.
Having paid a visit to the Maltese Community Centre in Parkville, she met Joe Montebello who was carrying a film camera. She asked him if he would be kind enough to film some of the women there conveying their Christmas wishes for their loved ones in Malta. Back in Malta she managed to transmit these greetings on the local national tv channel. This was the forerunner of her programme Waltzing Matilda which went on air for the first time on July 28th, 1994.
Joe Montebello promised Josephine Zammit Cordina that he would help her by sending filmed footage of various events by the Maltese of Melbourne. Joe Montebello managed also to film some sequences in Queensland. Eventually some of the members of Maltese associations from other states liked the idea of them being seen in Malta and managed to send her videos of their activities. Emmanuel Psaila from South Australia was another contributor. While on a six month assignment in Australia her son Henry filmed in NSW and also in South Australia and Melbourne.
With only two professional videos lent to her by the Australian High Commissioner in Malta when she embarked on this venture, the amount of footage was gradually increasing. However, not all material was broadcast quality since a lot of videos were shot by amateurs.
Apart from its main aim that of showing the way of life the Maltese lead in Australia, Waltzing Matilda covered also various national events such as the 2000 Olympics, festivals such as the Moomba in Melbourne; the Anzac Parade, Australia Day celebrations, national disasters and others together with short documentaries of certain beautiful spots in the country.
Every year on Australia day, Waltzing Matilda transmits a message by the Australian High Commissioner in Malta. The programme also covers events held by the High Commission and by Maltese/Australian Associations in Malta. Extensive coverage has been given to visits in Malta or Australia by Presidents, Governor Generals, Prime Ministers and Premiers, Members of Parliament, Church Dignitaries and Trade Delegations.
Waltzing Matilda was transmitted monthly from 1994 to 1998 with a duration of about 50 minutes. From October 1998 onwards it went on air fortnightly with a 30 minute duration.
After her visit to Australia in 1993, Josephine Zammit Cordina felt that it was necessary for her to pay frequent visits to Australia to gather as much footage as possible for her programme. A series of visits followed from 1996 up to 2010. Accompanied by her husband Harry and Joe Montebello her first two visits saw her in NSW, Canberra and Victoria. During other visits that followed filming in NSW, Canberra, Western Australia and Queensland was taken over by her son Henry while Joe Montebello kept covering events in Victoria. Normally such 5-week visits take place every two years but Josephine makes sure that she has enough material to last her until the next visit. In addition, various Maltese/Australians on holiday in Malta find themselves filmed for the programme.
Waltzing Matilda can boast of being the only Maltese tv programme that enjoyed being transmitted for a number of years in a foreign country. In the year 2000 Joe Montebello set up a Maltese Tv Consortium with the aim of having Waltzing Matilda transmitted on Ch 31 of Melbourne. The Public Broadcasting Services of Malta gave its permission for such transmissions and Waltzing Matilda has been transmitted regularly on Ch 31 of Melbourne since October 2000.
The programme is now in its 18th year and is being shown on TVM2 which is a new channel replacing Ed 22. Josephine Zammit Cordina who has paid 13 visits to Australia is proud of her achievements in having transported the Maltese in Australia to their families and friends back in Malta. She has managed to do away with the misnomer that Australia was just kangaroo and bush. She feels indebted to the various sponsors and contributors that helped her throughout the years.
Josephine Zammit Cordina is grateful to the Government of Malta to have honoured her with the Midalja Ghall-Qadi tar-Repubblika (MQR) in 1995, to the Government of Australia for appointing her Honorary Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2003 and to the Hamrun Local Council in bestowing on her in 2011 the Gieh il-Hamrun. Waltzing Matilda can boast also of another honour through which Joe Montebello was appointed Member of the Order of Merit (MOM) by the Government of Malta.
'Waltzing Matilda' in its 18th year of production
