Australia adds 13,000 more citizens

26 Jan 2009, 6:30 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Australia Day January 26.

Australia Day January 26.

Australia has celebrated its 60-year tradition of multiculturalism by formally accepting more than 13,000 new citizens on Australia Day.

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Australia has celebrated its 60-year tradition of multiculturalism by formally accepting more than 13,000 new citizens on Australia Day.

From small ceremonies in remote communities, to a massive event in Perth where almost 1,900 people from 90 countries were conferred, new citizens spoke on Monday of their pride at cementing their place in Australia.

Speaking at the Perth ceremony, the largest of 318 held across the nation, Immigration and Citizenship Minister Chris Evans said no country had bettered Australia in settling migrants and celebrating their successes.

He said the 1,881 people, sworn in under a baking sun at Edith Cowan University in Perth's north, had joined "four million others who have done it before you".

Australia's proud tradition of welcoming people from other nations was one of the nation's great stories, he said.

"It was 60 years ago that we actually passed the amendments to the Citizenship Act which said we were no longer a British colony and were about building Australian citizenship," Senator Evans said.

"We are a great success story.

"You go anywhere in the world and they say no-one has done it better than Australia at settling and promoting the success of its migrants."

Amid the barbecues and beach parties, there was some controversy as some indigenous leaders agreed there should be a national debate about whether the date of Australia Day should be changed.

Australian of the Year, indigenous leader Mick Dodson, said a debate should be had because many Aboriginal people viewed the celebration of the First Fleet's arrival on January 26, 1788 as the day their country was invaded by another nation.

Indeed many indigenous Australians call January 26 Survival Day, and consider it a day of mourning.

But Prime Minister Kevin Rudd rejected any suggestion that the date be changed, saying he believed it was a day all Australians could celebrate.

"Those who have come to this land 200 years ago, those who are welcomed into the nation's family today - indigenous Australians, non-indigenous Australians - we are all in this together," Mr Rudd said.

"To our indigenous leaders, and those who call for a change to our national day, let me say a simple, respectful but straightforward no."

As politics played its part in this year's celebrations, Australians flocked to hundreds of events around the country, including to the tall ships spectacle and ferry race on Sydney Harbour.

In the city's Hyde Park crowds gathered to dine on everything from traditional Aussie beef burgers and snags to Spanish paella, Thai stir-fry and Turkish gozleme.

Garry Trinh, 33, dressed in an Australian flag t-shirt, said it was the one day of the year when he could wear the flag with pride without feeling like a "bogan".

"Sometimes I think the Australian flag is hijacked by a lot of bogans, but today I feel like I can win it back for a day," he said.

In Canberra, singer Leo Sayer was among 60 people to become Australian citizens at a ceremony presided over by Mr Rudd.

"Yes!" yelled the British-born musician after becoming a dinky-di Aussie, adding: "Everything I've done has been leading to this moment ... It's better than a number one (hit)."

Later, Governor-General Quentin Bryce officially opened Citizenship Place, adjacent to Lake Burley Griffin, to mark the 60th anniversary of Australian citizenship.

In Brisbane, thousands of people rallied against indigenous injustices at a "Survival Day" event, while reconciliation was the theme of festivities at an Aboriginal community on Elcho Island, off the Northern Territory coast.

In Adelaide, men from the Ahmadiyya Muslim Association chanted Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi, while Samoan women wearing grass skirts shook their hips to the beat of a drum.

Melbourne's Australia Day People's March paid tribute to the 'We Are One, But We Are Many' theme, with the Victoria Police pipe band, the Laughter Club, Guides Victoria and Chinese dragons all participating in the parade.

On the water, tall ships including the Young Endeavour sailed into Port Phillip, Hobsons Bay and St Kilda, while the Yarra River was briefly turned into a sea of yellow, as a flotilla of rubber ducks were let loose in the Great Australia Day Duck Race.

Celebrations will wind down with pin-hole cameras in Perth, as revellers are treated to partial solar eclipse, while major fireworks displays will take place in Melbourne at Federation Square and in Sydney at Darling Harbour later on Monday evening.

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