Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi
NEW AUSSIES
Seventeen Port Douglas residents assumed Australian citizenship at an impressive and memorable occasion held at the Port Douglas Community Hall on Thursday.
Among the countries represented were the United Kingdom, Thailand, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Republic of Congo, Scotland, Canada, Germany, India and Poland.
Congratulations to our new Australians:
Leigh Gallon – (United Kingdom)
Jiraporn Nualla-Ong – (Thailand)
Irene Cats – (Netherlands)
Gretchen Thomsom – (New Zealand)
Fiona Colmore – (New Zealand)
David Pearse – (United Kingdom)
Daniel Breun – (Germany)
Cheryl Ross – (United Kingdom)
Carolyn Graham – (New Zealand)
Andrew Gray – (New Zealand)
Amandeep Kaur – (India)
Rebecca Pearse – (United Kingdom)
Patrick Cooper – (United Kingdom)
Michaela Sands – (United Kingdom)
Malgorzata Czajkowska – (Poland)
Gary Donald Cunningham - (Scotland)
In congratulating the candidates and before conferring citizenship, Douglas Shire Mayor Julia Leu said it had been a long journey for everyone and they had made a big decision to become Australian.
It was a big moment for Gary Donald Cunningham, who hails from Airdrie, which is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
“This is a wonderful feeling and it is amazing to be an Australian citizen. It’s great to be part of a multi-cultural country and I believe that I will now be more accepted and have a say in things,” he said after receiving his citizenship certificate from Mayor Leu.
Coming from a part of the world where temperatures can drop to below minus 20 degrees, Cunningham has thoroughly enjoyed the past five years in the port and he has blended into the community through his work as a carpenter and playing soccer.
“I am a keen soccer follower and play for the local Dragons team and still follow Airdrie back in Scotland,” he said.
Cunningham plans to stay in Port and not go anywhere else.