LOCAL LIFE
MEET OUR NEWEST CITIZENS ...
Irene and Norman are delighted that their family are now Australian citizens . by Lorna Gordon
National Citizen Day is on the 17 September and this year we had the pleasure of welcoming 237 new citizens to the Hills Shire in a ceremony conducted by council .
These citizens originally came from 36 different countries , including India , China , Iran , South Africa and the UK .
Australian Citizen Day was established in 2001 to encourage all Australians to think about what it means to be part of this amazing country we call home . Having gone through the citizenship process and ceremony myself , I know how exciting it is to finally become a citizen . It gives you a sense of place and security that being on a visa doesn ’ t bring , as well as giving you the right to vote , which is a massive part of living in a democracy .
“ It was particularly special to welcome The Hills Shire ’ s newest citizens , who have come from all corners of the world on this meaningful day , which unites all Australians ,” Mayor Gangemi said .
I was fortunate to speak to a couple of brand spanking new Aussie ’ s , Norman and Irene , who are originally from Zimbabwe and met when they both went to university in South Africa and who moved to Australia in 2018 .
“ We decided to move away from South Africa to have a better life for ourselves and our family . Things were not looking hopeful for the future in South Africa , and we wanted to find somewhere that would be best move for our kids ,” Irene explained .
Like many people who come to Australia , the couple used an agent and applied for permanent residency . In December 2017 they visited friends in Sydney to validate their visas and give themselves time to decide when best to move here .
However , life had other plans for them and their timeline for moving to Sydney was sped up when the couple received some unexpected news .
“ Not long after we returned to South Africa , we found out I was pregnant with our second child ! The pregnancy pushed us to make our decision to move as if he was born there , we would have to start a new application for his residency .
“ Things would have been very different if we had stayed in South Africa and in hindsight , we are thankful and believed it was a sign that we needed to move in this direction to be where we are right now . We arrived here when I was 33 weeks pregnant , and our son was born about four weeks later .”
Although Norman and Irene had no family living in Sydney , they did have friends here and were welcomed to stay with them until Norman got a job and they moved into their own home just before their new baby arrived .
Coping with a newborn in a new country wasn ’ t particularly easy without extended family or the family helper they had employed in South Africa , but they felt that being here has been worth
6 ISSUE 100 // OCTOBER 2023 theindependentmagazine . com . au THE HILLS INDEPENDENT