AS she stood with 173 other new citizens in Newcastle City Hall pledging their commitment to Australia, Patricia Bridgman was already wearing her allegiance on her heart.
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Around her neck, she wore a necklace with a locket that had the Southern Cross etched on one side, and on the other, in a tiny inscription, a line from an iconic song: “I am, you are, we are Australian”.
“Although it doesn’t say anything about Vegemite,” added her husband, James Simmons, who gave her the locket to wear at the citizenship ceremony.
Patricia Bridgman emigrated as a teenager with her parents from England. Fifty-three years on, she has become an Australian citizen. “It’s just absolutely brilliant, after all these years,” Ms Bridgman said. ”It’s the best country in the world.”
Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes and the Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, emphasised the importance for the city of having residents from all over the globe.
“Our strength is our people, and the diversity of our people,” said Ms Claydon.
The Australia Day Awards recipients were also announced at the ceremony.
Newcastle’s Citizen of the Year is Catholic nun and refugee advocate Sister Diana Santleben.
“I wasn’t born in Newcastle,” Sister Diana told the audience of several hundred. “I came here 12 years ago to retire.”
As she looked out at the new citizens sitting before her, Sister Diana said she could see a lot of her friends. When asked how she intended to use her ‘Citizen of the Year’ award, Sister Di said she would encourage all women in Newcastle to drop in and meet with female refugees at Zara’s House, the support centre she helped establish last year.
The Young Citizen of the Year is university student Phillip Johnson. He was recognised for his work in helping students. Community leader and businesswoman Mary Maughan, who died earlier this month, was honoured and remembered. One to One, a women’s group Mrs Maughan founded to raise money for charities, was named Community Group of the Year.
More than 100 people from around the world filled the Lake Macquarie council chambers on Thursday morning to become Australian citizens.
They included Mohammed Alawneh and his wife Kafa Walweel and their five children. The family arrived from Jordan in 2010, when Dr Walweel decided to complete a PhD in biomedical sciences.
After landing a job at the University of Newcastle, Dr Walweel applied for citizenship. “I love the nature of Australia. I love the people here,” she said.
