An African refugee who fled war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo 19 years ago plans to run for a seat on a southeast Queensland local council.
Blaise Itabelo, who has lived in Australia for four years after fleeing his homeland in 1996, will nominate as a candidate for a seat on the Logan City Council after he gains citizenship in January.
"To become a citizen of Australia is a great privilege and I want to waste no time in participating," said Mr Itabelo, who spent almost 16 years in refugee camps.
With only the clothes on his back, a six-year-old Blaise fled then-Zaire with his parents and four siblings after foreign troops marched across the border.
They trekked from their hometown in the southeast, sailing across Lake Tanganyika to Tanzania, where they lived for weeks in a crowded tent.
They were then loaded on a "cow truck" and moved to a refugee camp and told to chop down trees to build a shelter.
"My dad was targeted because of his level of education - he was a high school principal," Mr Itabelo told AAP.
"We had to go but we left with nothing. I had one pair of shorts on me.
"I remember them giving us a machete and telling us to clear a few square metres of trees and build somewhere to stay."
Blaise learnt French and English during primary school, before earning a prestigious United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees scholarship to study industrial relations.
He left his Tanzanian refugee camp in 2011, settling at Marsden south of Brisbane after marrying Furaha, also a Congolese refugee.
"She was a friend of a friend," Mr Itabelo said.
"I met her over Facebook; she was already an Australian citizen so I was very fortunate to get a visa."
The couple now have two boys, Eli and Kenas.
Mr Itabelo has set up an immigration law firm and volunteers at a youth program and men's shed.
Although he is not an official Aussie until January's ceremony, campaigning has begun.
"I do sometimes wonder about migrants who fail to positively participate in a country that gives them so much," he said.
"I've been called a foreigner all my life ... and to now be able to call somewhere my home is something I cannot really describe."
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