Record Number of New Australian Citizens - Australia Day
Date of Record: 26/01/2013
The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, welcomed a record 17,000+ people from 145 countries who became Australian citizens as part of Australia Day celebrations.
The 2013 celebration meant there were 430 special ceremonies across the nation.
At the national flag-raising and citizenship ceremony in Canberra, Prime Minister Julia Gillard awarded citizenship to 22 people from nine countries.
• New South Wales welcomed 3800 new citizens from 113 countries.
• Sydney's largest Australia Day citizenship event was hosted by Sutherland Shire Council in the city's south, with 209 people receiving their citizenship. In regional NSW, the largest citizenship ceremony was hosted by Gosford Council with 123 conferees.
• Victoria welcomed 3800 new citizens from 105 countries in around 80 citizenship ceremonies across the state.
• Queensland welcomed the most new citizens of any state, with 5000 people from more than 120 countries in 82 special citizenship ceremonies.
• Brisbane City Council hosted the largest single ceremony in the country at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Southbank, with 1200 people making the citizenship pledge.
• In South Australia, there were 1300 new citizens from 77 countries.
• Tasmania welcomed more than 320 new citizens from 46 countries.
• In the nation's west, Western Australia welcomed over 2500 new citizens from 92 countries as it celebrated Australia Day with around 80 special citizenship ceremonies in suburbs and towns across the state, from Bridgetown to Broome and Kalgoorlie to Kwinana.
• The Northern Territory welcomed more than 260 new citizens from 41 countries.
The newest Australians joined the more than four and a half million others who had chosen to become Australian citizens since the first citizenship ceremony in 1949.
You Might Also Be Interested In This...
