Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every Australia Day, we celebrate our great country, our democratic values, our freedoms and our beautiful landscape, as well as our national character of strength and resilience, forged over many years. Significantly, this Australia Day, we also came together in Mandurah to recognise and welcome our new Australians taking the pledge of allegiance to our great nation. I had the pleasure of welcoming 80 new citizens from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities, and it was a delight to sing, all of us together, our national anthem. The ceremony also gave me and many others the opportunity to renew our pledge to Australia. It was a reminder for all of us, whether born here or naturalised after birth, that Australian citizenship is both a privilege and a responsibility. We all share in the hard-fought freedoms, rights and opportunities that come with being Australian.

This Australia Day I was also honoured to help recognise and celebrate the achievements of members of my local community. Among the long list of Australians honoured in the 2026 Australia Day Honours, I was delighted to see Peel residents Chief Petty Officer Erol Williams and Commander Wesley North Ran awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Military Division. Chief Petty Officer Bradley Smith was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross and Lauren D'Arcy was awarded the Ambulance Service Medal. Each of these Peel locals reflect the very best of what it means to be an Australian.

I was very proud to also present the city of Mandurah's Active Citizenship Award to the Backpack Buddies program. This remarkable program is driven by young local volunteers who work hard to make sure that children who might otherwise go hungry have access to daily nutritious meals. Today, Backpack Buddies supports more than 220 kids across Mandurah, Peel and Rockingham, working in partnership with 17 local schools. Their extraordinary fundraising efforts are impressive, but even more inspiring is the compassion, initiative and leadership shown by these young volunteers. Active citizenship starts in our own communities, and the next generation in the Peel region is leading by example.

Also recognised on Australia Day were Community Citizen of the Year, Emeritus Professor Lyn Beazley AO, Young Community Citizen of the Year Millie Penman, and Senior Community Citizen of the Year John Stone. Again, I extend my most sincere congratulations to all those recognised within our community. Your service and dedication does not go unnoticed, and you are all well-deserving of the accolades that you received. To our new Australians, I hope you are as proud and grateful to live in this great country as I am. Citizenship of our great nation comes with rights and responsibilities, and together we are all collaborators and stewards of this great democratic project here in Australia. I hope that we all work together as a community to keep building our future.