New citizen Ke Wang, 28, centre, with his family Max Wang and Andi Wang, 3, and Mary and Victor Wang, 1, all new arrivals from Beijing. Picture: TARA GOONAN
NOREUIL Park resembled a mini-United Nations on Australia Day as 26 immigrants took part in Albury’s largest citizenship ceremony.
People from Bangladesh, India, Germany, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Canada, Pakistan, England, Russia and New Zealand were welcomed as Australian citizens by Albury’s mayor Alice Glachan.
Heike Sander came to Australia from Germany on a working holiday visa in 2006 and decided she wanted to stay.
She worked at Mars Petcare in the research and development area before deciding on a career change.
She will start her third year of a physiotherapy degree at Charles Sturt University this year.
She also plans to marry next year — to David Wilson, who came to the area from Hamilton, in western Victoria.
“I like to be part of the Australian way of life,” she said.
“Being here for a while it feels the right thing to do.”
Uttam Kumar and his family came to Australia in 2008 to escape the turbulence in Nepal.
He has a background in civil engineering and has settled into a home in Lavington with his wife, Mira, and children Melody and Samuel.
Abdul Rafiq and his children, Abdullah and Fatima, are among Albury’s new residents.
They are formerly from Pakistan and briefly lived in Britain before settling on Australia as their permanent home.
More than 9 per cent of Albury-Wodonga’s population was born overseas, according to 2006 census figures.