Accredited ATO tax helper Joseph Buhagiar has been offering his services for free at libraries for 25 years, with four of those at Yass Valley Library. How many people would have met him in that time and yet, how many know his story?
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From the constant smile on the 81-year-old’s face and the ongoing jokes he loves to tell, few would imagine the difficult path he’s walked.
Mr Buhagiar became a refugee as a teenager under the expulsion of all foreigners in Egypt by president Nasser between 1956-57. Buhagiar’s family, of Maltese descent, were forced to leave Egypt for England.
Mr Buhagiar remembers the day he was taken out of his house by Nasser regimists and transferred to an empty boarding school near Cairo, where he subsisted on black tea and rice for 10 days.
He was eventually told he could stay with his aunt in Cairo under house arrest, until his family was made to leave to the UK.
“They told my father to go to the travel agency and get tickets for the family to the UK,” Mr Buhagiar said. “The only money he was allowed to take out of his bank account was for the ticket,” leaving the rest behind.
When they arrived in the UK, all they had were the clothes they left with, not enough to withstand the harsh British winter.
Mr Buhagiar was met with blankets and clothing by the Salvation Army and taken to a refugee camp at a Royal Air Force base in Stafford.
Eventually, his family went to live with his aunt in Peterborough. There were eight in the one house until his parents could afford their own.
Mr Buhagiar got a job in a local brickwork company as an Italian interpreter, while studying accountancy at the tech college in Peterborough. He is also fluent in Arabic and French from his school days.
Mr Buhagiar lived with his parents until he married Edie, who he met at a dance one night. Today, they have been married for 57 years and have four children.
They remained in the UK for a while. Mr Buhagiar completed two years of national service with the RAF. One day the couple saw an advert in the paper for the ‘Ten Pound Pom’ transfer to Australia. They travelled by ship for five weeks to their new home and arrived with $888.
They built a house in Penrith, Sydney and Mr Buhagiar began work checking the balance of tills at North Shore train stations. Eventually, he got a job with Qantas as an accounts clerk, working his way up to an accountant.
In 2000, the couple moved to Bowral and eventually to Yass to be close to their son, a Murrumbateman resident.
Mr Buhagiar said he loves the people he meets at the library. He will be at Yass Valley Library until October 31, on Thursdays 3-6pm and Fridays 10am-1pm.
