Citizenship Ceremonies

Tuesday, 11 August 2009 19:36

One of the best parts of the mayoral job is officiating at the monthly citizenship ceremonies held at the Cairns Council chambers. Friends and relatives of citizens who come to the ceremony are always surprised to find out that more than 50 people per month become Australian citizens. Our new citizens come from a range of countries: Peru, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Japan, Colombia, China, Kenya, India, Germany, Canada, Taiwan, Vietnam, Holland, South Africa, Indonesia; almost everywhere in the world. We get English people who came as children and now, 50 years later, decide that Australia is really home; and Kiwis who've decided that they are never going to go back to New Zealand to live. I always ask people why they came to settle in the Cairns region and it's interesting to hear their reasons: jobs, the tropical lifestyle and climate, to be re-united with relatives who've settled here, for "love", to attend university, to escape oppression in their home countries, and to enable their kids to have a better future and greater opportunities than they had. For many the ceremony can be quite an emotional experience - I've seen tears in some people's eyes as they sing the national anthem - and it is a reminder of the wonderful multi-cultural society in which we live.