A couple of weeks ago I finally became an Australian
The ceremony took place in an auditorium at the Southbank convention centre, and it was a biggie. 995 new migrants plus a scrum of supporting friends & family.
Then there were speeches by a variety of Brisbane politicians
and some tunes by the gents in tuxedos above, a local (and very good) male voice choir.
After that we pledged alleigance to Australia in two waves - those who wanted to use the phrase 'under god' (this is an oath) and those who skipped that particular phrase (this is a pledge). Finally it was time to open the envelopes containing the citizenship document - we were Australians.
The Lord Mayor lead us in a rousing chorus of 'Aussie Aussie Aussie - oi oi oi!' and that was it. It took just over an hour with some additional standing around at the start - in some ways nothing has changed, in other ways everything has changed...
The ceremony took place in an auditorium at the Southbank convention centre, and it was a biggie. 995 new migrants plus a scrum of supporting friends & family.
The ceremony started with a traditional indigenous greeting ceremony
Then there were speeches by a variety of Brisbane politicians
and some tunes by the gents in tuxedos above, a local (and very good) male voice choir.
After that we pledged alleigance to Australia in two waves - those who wanted to use the phrase 'under god' (this is an oath) and those who skipped that particular phrase (this is a pledge). Finally it was time to open the envelopes containing the citizenship document - we were Australians.
The Lord Mayor lead us in a rousing chorus of 'Aussie Aussie Aussie - oi oi oi!' and that was it. It took just over an hour with some additional standing around at the start - in some ways nothing has changed, in other ways everything has changed...
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