Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Citizenship of Australia is a deep privilege and honour, since this is a magnificent country; there is no better. Our opportunities are only as limited as our imagination. As individuals and as a nation we can become anything. Therefore, I want, in the Parliament of Australia, to pay tribute to and congratulate those new Australians who came from far away as the Russian Federation and as near as New Zealand, and from places as troubled as Afghanistan to places as stable as Singapore. There were so many people who became Australian citizens on 26 January 2009, and I had the distinct honour of conferring citizenship upon people from many parts of the world.

I want to name them in the parliament because I know they will consider that to be something special. From Bangladesh came Mohammed Shafiul Haque, who said to me that he thought there was no better country than this one. From Paraguay came Nadia Carolina Alexander, who said that, while she came from South America, she thought that there was no better country than Australia because of the opportunities for her and her family. Both of those people live in my electorate, in St Lucia and Auchenflower. From the UK was John Martin Brown, who lives in Bardon. From the Russian Federation were Daria Aleksandrovna Chernykh and Aksinya Radaeva, who are both living in Toowong. They were very pleased to receive citizenship and felt the poignancy of the occasion. From Hong Kong came Wai Kei Cheung, who said to me that she very much loved the environment in Australia. Green space—ovals and parks—is not a signature of Hong Kong, as in our community.

There are many more. In Middle Park in Centenary, there is Mr Ashwami Kumar Garg, Mr Shrey Garg and Mrs Shilpi Gupta, all from India. They said to me that whilst there was a rivalry with cricket, their loyalties were to our democracy, even though they came from a great democracy. While they still supported India in all other respects, they had a deep love for Australia because they knew this was where their children’s future lay. In Toowong, there is Miss Jiayin Li from China. She said that her future was with this country and she would be flying the flag for the rest of the day with real pride. There were many more from other countries that we are familiar with—for example, the Philippines and Ireland. They all have a great love for Australia and feel very proud to be citizens. (Time expired)