Politics with Purpose
Lina Messina talks about technology,
microeconomies, and making our ancestors proud by Hayley J. Egan
T
he City of Darebin has a new mayor, and it has to be said that she embodies the Italian stereotype. Passionate, determined, and a little bit fierce, Lina Messina was not going to sit back and do nothing when she heard that the Preston Market was going to close down. «I rang a friend who was a local politician at the time, saying that it just can’t close down,» she says. «And he said to me, “Well, what are you going to do about it?”»
20 LIFSTYLE & TRADITIONS
Daughter of Sicilian migrants, Messina grew up in Darebin, and she is passionate about her corner of Melbourne and the memories it holds. Of particular significance to her and many others, is the hive of shopping activity in the heart of Preston. «The Preston Market reflects so many multicultural groups. It is an inter-generational space that holds the stories of the communities who have come here with hopes and
Segmento Issue XXII • March-May 2021
