Today, on 17 September, we celebrate Australian Citizenship Day in the 75th Anniversary of the very creation of Australian citizenship.
Before the Chifley Labor Government created Australian citizenship in 1949, all Australians were considered British subjects – subjects of the then British Empire!
This milestone Citizenship Day is an opportunity for all Australians to reflect with pride on our country and on the value of Australian citizenship, and the enormous changes we have seen over 75 years.
The Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Julian Hill, will be presiding over a special Citizenship Ceremony at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne today with 45 conferees from 22 different countries taking the pledge of commitment to Australia. The eldest conferee is 65 and the youngest is 2 years old.
More than 6,700 people from over 120 nations have been invited to attend one of 114 ceremonies being held on Australian Citizenship Day across Australia.
Quotes attributable to Julian Hill, Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs from today’s speech at the Immigration Museum:
“For thousands of years, our vast continent has been home to people of many cultures, languages and traditions. A land whose extraordinary story spans from the vast mosaic of ancient nations and languages of First Nations peoples.
“Whether we are citizens through birth, like me and my family for generations, or because we have chosen Australia as our new home, Australian Citizenship Day is a chance for all Australians to be proud of our common bond.
“Citizenship is the common legal bond that binds, protects and empowers Australians as a people.”
“Our common citizenship is also an identity, and as Australians we have far more in common than we do differences. To me, an Australian is anyone committed to our country and to the principle of mutual respect for our fellow Australians.
“Perhaps the essence of modern multicultural Australia – of Australian multiculturalism – is simply that great Australian promise of the fair go: that everyone gets a fair go at life here, no matter your ancestry, ethnicity, faith or background.”
