On Tuesday morning the Carlton Football Club, together with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, welcomed some of our newest citizens at a ceremony held at Ikon Park.
Carlton’s Irish players Ciaran Byrne, Ciaran Sheehan and Zach Tuohy participated in the event, presenting the 33 conferees with Carlton Football Club memberships and welcome packs.
Tuohy, who moved to Melbourne in 2009 and has a son born here, says acquiring citizenship is something he’s going to “look into pretty soon”.
“It’s a really great initiative, for a long time now the club has had a pretty strong connection with a diverse range of cultures and this is just another step to promote that side of Carlton,” Tuohy said.
“The AFL plays an important role promoting multiculturalism in Australia and Carlton is certainly really passionate about it – they were fantastic in welcoming me and helping me feel at home when I moved over from Ireland.”
Carlton's Irish players Zach Tuohy, Ciaran Byrne and Ciaran Sheehan welcome Australia's newest citizens at a citizenship ceremony at Ikon Park. (Photo: Carlton Football Club)
The ceremony is part of celebrations happening across the country for the AFL’s Multicultural Round, with Saturday’s clash between Carlton and Collingwood being the showpiece game.
Federal Member for Melbourne Adam Bandt and Victorian MP for Melbourne Ellen Sandell were also present at the ceremony and presented each of the conferees with a gift of a native tree.
Regional Director for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection Peter van Vliet was proud to participate in the ceremony to welcome our newest citizens.
“It is important that all Australians value their citizenship regardless of how they became a citizen, whether by birth, migration or through citizenship by decent,” Mr van Vliet said.
“Australian citizenship represents a commitment to Australia and its people, the values we share and our common future.”
Sangita Bhana and her husband Harshal, who became citizens at the ceremony, migrated to Australia from South Africa in 2011. They found the culture in Australia really appealing, particularly in Melbourne.
“We felt Australia was so welcoming to different cultures and there was space for everyone to come in and make a difference,” Ms Bhana said.
“The people here have just made the transition very easy for us. We didn’t feel like we were in a different place. People would just chat to you and you feel like you’re meant to be here. It just felt so right so we decided to stay on.”
Since the first citizenship ceremony was held some 66 years ago, more than 4.5 million people have chosen to become Australian citizens.
Make sure you head down to Yarra Park outside Gate 3 of the MCG from 11.30am on Saturday, for your chance to soak up the atmosphere at the AFL’s first-ever ‘Many Cultures, One Game’ festival.
