Thursday, 4 May 2023

Darebin citizenship ceremonies

Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (09:57): I rise to update the house regarding citizenship ceremonies in the Darebin council area. In 2017 the Liberal Turnbull government took away Darebin council’s right to hold those citizenship ceremonies in retaliation for council moving the ceremonies away from 26 January. Of course, as the house knows, last year the Australian people elected the Albanese Labor government and new minister for immigration Andrew Giles reversed that decision. As a result of Minister Giles’s decision, Darebin council was able to hold its first citizenship ceremonies in seven years last month and welcomed roughly 350 new citizens from 68 different countries.

Of course many of those new citizens are only new citizens in the most formal possible sense, having been part of our community for a long time – in some cases 10 or 20 years. They are very well informed about our society. They are very well informed, I found, about our First Nations history and culture. They are very well informed about the colonial history of this country and its ongoing repercussions. I was reminded in those ceremonies of what it is like to attend a wedding of a couple who have been together for a long period of time. The tone was less one of excitement but more one of purpose and commitment, and it was fantastic to see all these wonderful and diverse people making their commitment to Australia and indeed to Melbourne’s northern suburbs.