24 Australians from every continent have become citizens at the National Citizenship and Flag Raising Ceremony in Canberra.
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00:00It was a day of immense pride and joy for these new Australians who have had citizenship
00:08conferred on them in this national ceremony and received their certificates from the Prime
00:14Minister Anthony Albanese.
00:16They came from many different countries, as you say, from every continent.
00:21And one of the common threads that united so many of these people were their desires
00:27to pursue more educational opportunities in Australia.
00:31And the sense that this was a country where they had more opportunities to fulfil their
00:38potential than perhaps they did in their home countries.
00:42That was the case for the Alozie Chidi family who have come from Nigeria.
00:48They arrived in Australia in 2018 and have had citizenship conferred on them today.
00:55I caught up with them after the ceremony and they told me now that they are officially
01:00Australian citizens, they're looking for ways that they can give back to the country that
01:05has given them so much.
01:08We're just looking at opportunity wherein we could be able to give back to the society.
01:14All that we're going to, you know, get in court, we're actually going to give it back
01:20to the society.
01:22It's a wonderful experience for us to be able to be involved in such a capacity.
01:29I know today throws that up for us.
01:34And Patrick, what else happened at the ceremony today?
01:38Well as well as hearing from the Prime Minister, Her Excellency the Governor-General Sam Mostyn
01:43also addressed the people present.
01:46She also inspected the Australian Federation Guard and the band of the Royal Military College
01:52Duntroon.
01:53Of course the flag raising a very important part of today and the Australian National,
01:58Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags have been officially raised here on the foreshore
02:03of Lake Burley Griffin.
02:05That is the end of the national ceremony today that concluded a little while ago but for
02:11the Canberra locals there's still plenty on and not too far away from me here on the
02:17foreshore there is an ACT community barbecue happening at Commonwealth Park.
02:22So that's where the locals from all different backgrounds can go and celebrate the day and
02:28reflect on what it means to be Australian and to be a resident here in the National
02:33Capital.