It gives me great pleasure to write the foreword to "Boat Load of Dreams" - Journeys by European Immigrant Workers 1947-1994, an exciting and informative project jointly organised by the community of the Adelaide Hills region and the United Trades and Labor Council of South Australia.

"Boat Load of Dreams" tells the story of the lives, experiences and emotions of those Europeans who came to Australia and were accommodated at the Woodside Immigration Centre as displaced persons after World War II. This project highlights the contributions and achievements of these migrants an through the visual projects, maps out their struggle, participation and evolution in that today is celebrated as a truly Australian Culture.

Assembling such a rich and descriptive history involved interviews with the surviving refugee migrants from a range of cultural backgrounds. This interviewees recount experiences of post-war upheaval, journeys, early life in South Australia and the new life and community which they created for themselves and their families.

This interviewees recount experiences of post-war upheaval, journeys, early life in South Australia and the new life and community which they created for themselves and their families.

It is most heartening to see an exhibition of this type which recounts from South Australia's future generations, they development and evolution of a particular era in our society. The society in which we live is neither European, Asian nor Middle Eastern but truly multicultural, which at times I believe is synonymous with Australian. This exhibition gives a sense of worth and place and also a sense of belonging to a unique society.

A sense of community, cultural and its on going development can be as has been demonstrated by this exhibition a significant stake holder in the development and appreciation of the arts in South Australia.

I commend the organisers of this project on having compiled such an important, handsome collection. And I congratulate all the people and whose experiences make the exhibition "Boat Load of Dreams" possible.

by Diana Laidlaw MLC S.A. Minister for the Arts