THE Hawkesbury welcomed 33 new citizens to our district at the Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony at Windsor Function Centre on Saturday.
“Australia Day is an opportunity for all of us to take pride in our citizenship and reflect on the meaning and importance of being Australian,” Hawkesbury Mayor Kim Ford said.
A diverse range of cultures were represented at this year’s ceremony with new citizens originating from Bulgaria, Belarus, Botswana, Hungary, India, Malawi, Malta, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and Russia.
Among them was local tumbling teacher, Dzmitry Kachan, from Kachan School of Tumbling (right, with daughter Alexsa and tumbling school team).
“I have always been an Aussie in my heart ... now it is official,” Mr Kachan said.
“It is special to be able to celebrate this with my family, friends and students from my class,” he said, adding he was certain the new citizens would make an enormous contribution to our cultural diversity and help shape our country’s future.
Hawkesbury’s Australia Day Ambassador Simone Kennedy, silver medallist at the 2012 London Paralympics in cycling, also spoke at the ceremony, speaking about the contributions of new citizens.
