“What a momentous day to become an Australian citizen in the City of Melbourne,” Cr Capp said.
“As our glorious city reopens, I’m honoured to welcome our new Australians. We are a city that is proud of its individuals and the value their diversity brings to our community.”
Mr Singh, from the Indian city of Deoghar, said he would rather the ceremony was in the Town Hall.
But he and his wife are both excited — about the ceremony and about becoming citizens.
“I’ll get an Australian passport and will have more flexibility to move around the world. And I’ll have better career prospects here,” Mr Singh said.
“And I can vote — that is also one of the things I’m excited about.”
As for his son: “When I ask him, do you want to be in India or Australia, he always says, ‘I want to be in Australia because I have all my friends here’.”
Also among Friday’s new citizens will be Andrea Pignatiello and Carlo Omede, friends from Torino (Turin) in Italy, who came to Australia within a month of each other eight years ago and loved it.
Chef Mr Pignatiello, 34, of Southbank, said he liked the opportunities in Australia.
“I can open a business without any trouble and as a chef, I can find jobs everywhere,” he said. “It’s much easier than at home.”
Mr Pignatiello said he was “a bit sad” the ceremony would be online.
“I would have loved to do it in person, and invite some relatives and my girlfriend.”
But given COVID-19 restrictions, he said it was “a good option to do it online”, however, “it will be weird to see someone on the computer say, ‘OK, now you’re Australian’.”
Since online citizenship ceremonies were introduced on March 31, 2020 until September 30, 2021, more than 226,000 people have acquired Australian citizenship through either online or in-person ceremonies, according to the federal Department of Home Affairs.
From the 2019-2020 financial year to 2020-21, the number of people acquiring citizenship fell from 204,817 to 140,748.
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City of Melbourne to say (a virtual) ‘welcome to Australia’
Source: Philippines Alive
