Kempsey Shire Mayor Liz Campbell will conduct the formal ceremony on Australia Day Eve, January 25, at the Slim Dusty Centre in South Kempsey.

Mrs Wu said she took the citizenship test in August 2016, achieving a score of 100, before waiting another three months to find out she would receive her citizenship.

“When I received the phone call I was so excited,” she said. “Every day I was waiting for this call.”

Mrs Wu moved from China to Sydney to join her Australian husband in 2008, before relocating to Kempsey in 2013 to assist in managing the Colonial Court Motor Inn.

“I hope I will have a good life in Australia,” she said. “I feel I can build on my strengths and that I will have more opportunities to study and work.

“I can also vote and am very excited to travel to more countries because an Australian passport makes it much easier to travel.”

The citizenship candidates come from nine different countries as diverse as India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, China, the Netherlands, Finland and the United Kingdom.

The event will include a Welcome to Country by Uncle Bob Smith and an announcement of the winners of this year’s Macleay Valley Australia Day Awards in the following categories: Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Group of the Year, and Volunteer of the Year.

There will also be an address from the Macleay’s Australia Day ambassador, mental health advocate Nic Newling.

The following day, as part of the wider Australia Day celebrations being held across the shire, the Crescent Head Lions Club will host its traditional barbecue breakfast at the Crescent Head Rotunda from 7.30am. 

The South West Rocks Lions Club will offer a free sausage sizzle from 6.30am at the Horseshoe Bay shelter shed.