Super citizenship ceremony

Published on 13 September 2019

Blacktown City Council hosted a Super citizenship ceremony on Sunday 8 September with just under 1,300 people swearing allegiance to Australia at the same time, making it Blacktown’s largest Citizenship Ceremony ever.

The ceremony took place at the Blacktown Leisure Centre, Stanhope Gardens, where people from 62 countries became Australian citizens on a very special and iconic Australian day.

Blacktown City Mayor Stephen Bali MP said; “Citizenship ceremonies play a critical role in Australian life and Blacktown City Council endeavours to honour these moments with a truly memorable Australian experience.”

'The day was a multicultural celebration with aboriginal dancers, performances from local dance schools, the Cook Islands Community and a Bollywood group. There was a blacksmith’s shop, face painting and food stalls including Greek Lambda, Turkish Gozleme, Indian cuisine and a good old Lions Club Aussie BBQ.

'Four people celebrated their birthdays when they received their citizenship; the oldest new Australian was 87 years old and the youngest just two.'

Mayor Bali was joined at the ceremony by the Federal Member for Chifley, Mr Ed Husic MP, the Federal Member for Greenway, Ms Michelle Rowland MP and NSW Parliamentarians Dr Hugh McDermott MP, Mr Kevin Connolly MP and Mr Edmond Atalla MP.