A CITIZENSHIP ceremony was held recently at the Mount Isa Civic Centre to welcome those who now call Australia home.
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Mayor Tony McGrady presented 16 adults and two children with certificates welcoming them and their families to Mount Isa as citizens of Australia along with the 4.5 million before them who have successfully become citizens.
Mr McGrady welcomed the new citizens to Mount Isa.
“You have been approved for citizenship of the greatest nation on earth at a time when our world is searching desperately for peace,” he said.
“From this day, you will all walk as an Australian, proud of your nation, proud of its people and proud of the country which you now formally call home.”
Proud Australian citizen Brian Fox received his official citizenship certificate after moving to Australia in August 2010 from Castlebar, Ireland.
After travelling around New Zealand for six months and finally finding his way to Sydney where Mr Fox worked for just over three years, the 29 year old has made his way to Mount Isa.
Mr Fox said he had been in Mount Isa for three weeks and was proud to get his citizenship.
He is currently working at the Mount Isa Hospital as a physiotherapist.
“I moved to Australia on my own and have now moved to Mount Isa on my own,” said Mr Fox. “I wanted something different and I thought it would be nice to move.
“This is the real Australia, I am real proud to get my citizenship here.”
Rochelle Saumya Ram and husband Sachida Nand celebrated their citizenship together as a small family with their two young boys.
Ms Saumya Ram moved to the country from Fiji six years ago.
“We have been in Australia for six years and now have two sons born here in Mount Isa, one in 2011 and the other in 2013,” she said.
“I have my small family here, husband and kids and a small group of close friends – and that’s all the family I have in Australia.
“I miss the tropics but Mount Isa isn’t bad. By the look of it, we will be here for a while and I hope we get rain soon.”
Ms Saumya Ram currently works as a registered nurse in the Mount Isa Hospital while Mr Nand works as an aircraft engineer.