MANY spoke of sacrifice to get to this point, but all were swelling with pride to be declared Australian citizens at the Ballarat Town Hall on Tuesday morning.
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For Harlan Yu, who hails from the Philippines, it was “the best feeling” and one he had been hoping to achieve for 15 years. Mr Yu was supported by his wife and parents, visiting Australia on holidays. His former bosses from Golf City Driving Range, Ben Roberts and Andrew Cartledge, were also in attendance for a grateful Mr Yu, who said the pair gave him a shot at his first Australian job.
“This wouldn’t be without the sacrifice of my family,” Mr Yu said. “We reckon Australia is the best country with the best options in life. My wife and I sacrificed everything we had to come here. It was very hard, very emotional and lots of tears adjusting to a new country.”
Mr Yu’s son was born here 16 years ago while on holidays and it was then Mr Yu and his wife decided Ballarat was where they wanted to raise their family.
“People say the weather is cold, but I come from a country of 12 million people, so here it’s nice to breathe a blast of fresh air,” Mr Yu said. “Everything is 10 minutes away, I can go home for lunch – it’s the little things we appreciate.”
City of Ballarat officially celebrated 25 residents, representing 14 nations, in an Australian citizenship ceremony on behalf of Australia’s Immigration and Border Protection Department.
Ballarat mayor Samantha McIntosh said this was a particularly big ceremony for the city, but, as always, very special and a great commitment to our nation.
”It really tells us a huge amount about who we are as a city and that we have really embraced our cultural communities,” Cr McIntosh said.
We reckon Australia is the best country with the best options in life. My wife and I sacrificed everything we had to come here.
- New citizen Harlan Yu
“We’ve got many people who come to Ballarat and share their religion, share their family heritage and share their country memories with us in Australia. It’s actually great for us as well, to be able to welcome and learn from that.”
This group of new citizens come from Jordan, Togo, Ghana, India, Mauritius, France, Japan, Philippines, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Pakistan and Ireland.