New Aussie Citizens celebrated in South Gippsland

SOUTH Gippsland is a little more Aussie after Wednesday evening’s citizenship ceremony at Leongatha Memorial Hall, with six new dinky-di Australians taking the pledge.

Nancy Sam and her sons Philjay and Tristan call Korumburra home, having arrived in Australia from Papua New Guinea in 2017.

She sees South Gippsland as a safe location to raise her sons.

“I love the place, the people are really friendly and I feel like I’m part of the town,” Nancy said of Korumburra.

She is still adapting to Aussie slang, such as ‘bloody’ sometimes having positive connotations, as in ‘bloody beauty’.

Philjay said being officially an Aussie doesn’t seem any different.

“We’ve been here so long I always feel Australian,” he said, having arrived at the age of nine.

Vianne Christal Cheng came to Australia around 2009, living for a time in Foster where her mother-in-law is based.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in,” she responded when asked how it feels to officially be an Aussie.

With her husband and daughter Australians, obtaining citizenship seemed a natural step to take.

Vianne looks forward to celebrating a summer Christmas as an Australian.

Kristine Rodriguez lives in Leongatha, having shifted from the Philippines to Australia in 2019.

“It’s really exciting and I can see my future in Australia,” she said of her new citizenship.

Hege Chapman arrived in Australia in 2007 and lives in Korumburra.

She said the main change in being an Aussie is that she is now able to vote.

Norway’s decision to allow dual citizenship encouraged Hege to become an official Australian.

She expressed surprise at the emotion she felt during the citizenship ceremony.

“I didn’t expect the ceremony to mean a lot,” she said, reflecting that while she was born a Norwegian citizen, she chose to become Australian.

She is hedging her bets when it comes to who she will support in sporting contests, saying she will treat that on a case-by-case basis with the likely winner an influential factor.

Some new citizens were heard proudly singing the words of Advance Australia Fair accompanied by the stirring sounds of the South Gippsland Shire Brass Band.

Citizenship ceremonies continue to be characterised by a vibrant mood and councillors and council staff clearly enjoy the occasions as much as the new citizens, respecting the significance of the occasion while sharing in the joy.