Baw Baw Shire is proud to welcome 38 new Australian citizens following a ceremony held at Drouin Golf and Country Club.
The citizenship ceremony saw people of all ages and cultural backgrounds take their citizenship pledge and receive their official certificate of Australian Citizenship amongst a proud crowd of family and peers.
The conferees now calling Australia home have been welcomed from China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Kuwait, Mauritius, Nepal, North Macedonia, Philippines, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States.
Anuja is one of the conferees who received her citizenship last night alongside her family, and said "it was a great pleasure to receive my citizenship with my son and my husband, we are all looking forward to getting involved with the Baw Baw community."
Mayor of Baw Baw Shire, Annemarie McCabe officiated the ceremony alongside Councillors Farhat Firdous and Tricia Jones. Cr Firdous shared a presentation and spoke of her own personal citizenship experience immigrating from Pakistan with her family.
“I am grateful to Australia and the Gippsland community for providing me a safe place to raise my daughter and I am committed to keeping it safe for our future generations” said Cr Firdous.
“I found that getting involved with community groups and organisations around me was the best way to interact and meet new people living our community. I’d like to welcome our new citizens to Baw Baw and encourage you all to participate in community activities to help build networks, relationships and allow you to feel part of the community”.
The Mayor echoed the sentiment. “As Baw Baw Shire continues to grow and our community is enriched with diversity, it is a pleasure to welcome so many families from different cultural backgrounds” said Cr McCabe.
“Each year, Baw Baw is lucky enough to welcome a growing number of citizens choosing to call our Shire their new home, with around 120 individuals gaining their citizenship in 2023 alone. I invite everyone to welcome our newest citizens as they begin a new and exciting chapter in Australia.”
The Citizenship Ceremony was the last for 2023. The next Citizenship Ceremony is scheduled for 26 January 2024.
Check out a selection of photos from the Ceremony
Image: Councillor Farhat Firdous sharing her personal citizenship experience.
Image: Cr Tricia Jones, Cr Farhat Firdous and Mayor Annemarie McCabe with the Mathew and Abraham family.
Image: Ohanna receiving her citizenship certificate from Mayor Annemarie McCabe.
Image: Cr Tricia Jones, Cr Farhat Firdous and Mayor Annemarie McCabe with new citizen Sergii Nychyk.
Image: New citizen Hongyuan Zhen and family.
Image: New citizen Evans Quenette and family.
Image: Cr Tricia Jones, Cr Farhat Firdous and Mayor Annemarie McCabe with new citizen Asuncion Navarro Rodriguez.