The author reflects on their grandfather Sidney Myer's journey from a penniless immigrant in 1900 to building Australia’s largest department store chain by his death in 1934. They argue against anti-immigrant rhetoric, highlighting how immigrants like Myer, Frank Lowy, Dick Pratt, Harry Triguboff, and Maha Sinnathamby have significantly contributed to the country's economy and culture through entrepreneurship and philanthropy. The article criticizes politicians such as Pauline Hanson for promoting harmful stereotypes about immigration.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
In 1897, Michael Myer's grandfather, Sidney Myer, arrived in Port Melbourne, Australia, with no money and little English. Fleeing Czarist Russia due to persecution, Sidney sought safety and opportunity. Starting as a door-to-door haberdasher in 1900, he eventually opened his first store in Bendigo. By the time of his death in 1934, he had built Australia's largest department store chain.
Michael Myer emphasizes Sidney’s impact during the Great Depression when he funded the construction of Yarra Boulevard, employing hundreds and hosted a massive Christmas dinner for over 11,000 unemployed people at five separate sittings. Michael argues that his grandfather's story exemplifies how immigrants can significantly contribute to Australia's cultural, social, and economic fabric if given opportunities, countering rising populism like the One Nation Party led by Pauline Hanson.
Written for “Myer Founder Criticism Debate” on 2026-10-07,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
A little over 125 years ago my grandfather Sidney Myer landed in Port Melbourne, penniless and with little English.
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grandfather → land → English
Escaping the pogroms in Czarist Russia, he came in the hope that this country would offer him the safety, freedom and opportunity to begin a new life.
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country → escape → life
Typical of so many immigrants before him and since, he started out with nothing, carting a haberdasher’s trading box on his back and selling door to door until he was able to open his first store in Bendigo in 1900.
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he → start → 1900
From there he built the largest department store chain in the southern hemisphere by the time he died in 1934.
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he → build → 1934
As the grandson of one of Australia’s most famous and most successful immigrants it feels like it’s my duty to make an intervention into the debate around the significance of immigration in the cultural, social and economic fabric of this country.
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it → feel → country
As we watch the rise of populism in this country in the form of the One Nation Party, and its leader, Pauline Hanson, what seems to be lost is the profound contribution that immigrants have made and will continue to make to the strength and vibrancy of our nation if they are given the chance.
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they → watch → chance
Sidney Myer’s deep commitment to this land that gave him a new home inspired him to build tirelessly and to never stop giving back to those in need.
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that → give → need
This is best exemplified by the work he did in funding the construction of Yarra Boulevard that kept hundreds of men employed during the Great Depression, and a massive Christmas dinner he held for the unemployed at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in 1930 that drew more than 11,000 people across five separate sittings.
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that → exemplify → sittings
What drove him was the tireless entrepreneurial energy that also spurred so many of this country’s great entrepreneurial immigrants.
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that → drive → immigrants
Men such as Frank Lowy, Dick Pratt, Harry Triguboff and Maha Sinnathamby, who share that same energy.
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who → share → energy
Together they have helped shaped the culture, and the social and economic fabric of this country.
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they → shape → country
Through their endeavours they have contributed hundreds of thousands of jobs and their personal philanthropy has made further enduring impacts on the cultural and social landscape of our nation.
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philanthropy → contribute → nation
What the increasingly strident populist voices in this country being led by One Nation and its openly racist leader Pauline Hanson are doing is demonising, devaluing and degrading the timeless value that immigration and immigrants bring.
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immigration → lead → that
Just some of the abhorrent comments she has made over the years include that we are “being swamped by Asians”, and that “Islam is a disease … we need to vaccinate ourselves against”.
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we → make → ourselves
Now she wants to close the door to international students and to the families of skilled migrants.
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she → want → migrants
The Coalition has followed, promising it would deliver “the biggest cut to immigration in the history of this country”.
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it → follow → country
In listening to these voices and giving comfort to anti-immigration rhetoric we are turning our backs on the enduring legacies of those great immigrants.
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we → listen → immigrants
In every facet of life – in science, medicine, the arts, agriculture, industry, and politics – our lives are enriched by the energy, drive and inspiration that immigrants bring to our collective lives.
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immigrants → enrich → lives
It is time for us to stop giving credence to voices that see immigrants as people taking from us and being a burden upon society, worthy of condemnation and censure.
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that → stop → condemnation
To demonise immigrants is essentially un-Australian.
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demonise → demonise → immigrants
We all are enriched by our multicultural heritage and must resile from the notion of a “monocultural” Australia.
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We → enrich → Australia
We cannot deny the fact the tens of thousands who seek to build better lives in this country today, just as my grandfather did 125 years ago, do so with the energy, drive and determination to create new lives.
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grandfather → deny → lives
They build businesses, drive innovation and contribute to the cultural, intellectual and social dynamism of this country.
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They → build → country
It’s undeniable that those who are prepared to take great risks in building anew can do great things.
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who → ’ → things
Denigrating immigration demeans the memory of all the immigrants who have gone before and blinds us to the contribution that today’s immigrants make now and will continue to make in the future.
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immigrants → denigrate → future
Let’s not allow a fear of foreigners to pollute our politics.
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fear → allow → politics
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that → challenge → own
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