Murray River Council welcomes our newest citizens

Murray River Council Mayor Chris Bilkey said hosting the citizenship ceremony was one of the things he enjoyed “the most as Mayor”.

“Today you are all officially changing your state and it is my great honour to be able to do this for you,” he said to the group.

“After today, I hope you all have a feeling of fellowship to this country.”

Cr Bilkey awarded the 14 new citizens their citizenship papers, in the final step in the process, as required by law.

“Welcoming new people to the country fills me with pleasure to do it, it really does,” he said.

“There's a whole variety of origins of these people, and the one bottom line is that they're all pleased to be here.

“They will make fantastic citizens.

Dr Chameera Akurugoda and Dr Muthuthanthrige Fernando moved to Barham with their son, Yehan, to work in the local GP clinic and hospital in 2019, after moving to Australia in 2016.

“We love living in Barham,” Dr Akurugoda said.

“It's a simple life and all the people are really lovely in Barham.”

The Van der Westhuizen family migrated to Australia from South Africa and settled in Koraleigh.

Maria Van der Westhuizen said the area they now lived in was similar to where they lived in South Africa.

The family has been in the region since March 2018, after coming to Australia for a better life for the children.

“The vision from the start was to become citizens and to have a better quality of life,” Mrs Van der Westhuizen said.

“It is a better life for the children, better opportunities and they won’t be discriminated against here.”

The Van der Westhuizen family was surrounded by friends that had become family at the event.

At the end of the ceremony, all new Australian citizens who were old enough were provided with information about enrolling to vote, along with gifts of indigenous plants, commemorative coins and Australian story books for the children.