Australia Day citizenship ceremony welcomes new citizens
There was a sense of excitement as conferees were presented with their citizenship, along with a wattle pin and a native Australian plant. A performance by the Low Rez choir and a sausage sizzle outside on the lawns added to the celebratory atmosphere.
Elwood resident Linda Drechsel travelled to Melbourne in 2016 for a marketing internship. Nearly nine years to the day of her arrival, she’s now an Australian citizen, celebrating the day with close friends at a local pub.
Linda shared her love for Elwood – the suburb she now calls home.
“I enjoy being able to walk down to the beach and go for a swim in summer. It’s something I never would have been able to do if I still lived in Germany,” she said.
“I love that Elwood is so green and leafy, and in some ways, has the vibe of a small country town that has a nice community feel to it.”
As an avid traveller, Linda jokes that some of her Australian-born friends and colleagues come to her for travel advice.
“They tell me that I have seen more of the country than them!” she said.
Her travels inspired her to co-create a German podcast called ‘Alles K[oa]la’ as a guide for Germans travelling Australia.
Linda with Port Phillip Mayor Louise Crawford.
She also explained the importance of being an Australian citizen and what it means to her.
“Being an Australian citizen gives me that sense of security, I still have my heritage and my roots in Germany, but there’s an element of certainty that I can always be here. I will have a passport and I can vote like all other Aussies around me.”
Fellow conferee and former Ireland resident, Stephen Boland also moved to Port Phillip in 2016 with his partner.
“We came over on a working visa and just started to love it instantly and tried to figure out ways we could stay longer and with different visas,” he said.
After spending time living in Gippsland and Essendon, Stephen was ultimately drawn back to St Kilda thanks to its strong cultural ties to his homeland.
“Of course, a lot of Irish people live around St Kilda and Port Phillip. We quickly made friends here and every weekend we found ourselves coming back to St Kilda to catch up with our friends,” he said.
“We came back so much that we thought we may as well just live here.”
Stephen spent his first day as an Australian citizen by enjoying a barbecue with family, friends and his footy teammates from Powerhouse Football Club.
Stephen receiving his Australian citizenship at St Kilda Town Hall.