Grateful to be an Aussie

PERHAPS the biggest excitement of the Rural City of Wangaratt's Australia Day Awards ceremony on Friday morning was kept until last, with seven locals officially inducted as Australian citizens. In front of a joyous crowd at the King George V Gardens, our newest Australians received their valued certificates of Australian citizenships and pledged their oath to the country on the commemorative occasion. Among our newest Aussies were the family of Anitha Radhakrishna, Prejith Prasad and daughter Dashka Prejith Nair who couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces as they received their citizenships on stage. Originally residing from India, Anitha moved to Australia wanting to continue her work as a nurse. She completed her bridging courses in Perth and her placement work in Brisbane, before moving back to India with Prejith to start applying for jobs in Australia. After receiving her application, Northeast Health Wangaratta then reached out to sponsor Anitha and helped find her and her family a home in Wangaratta. The family moved to the community in 2017 with Dashka just over one-year-old and they haven’t looked back since, with the official citizenship ceremony filling the family with pride. “It’s exciting, we’re truly honoured, happy and grateful to be Australian citizens,” Anitha said. “We were a little bit nervous when we moved here, we didn’t know anything about Wangaratta, the only reason we moved was the sponsorship from the hospital; but we’re glad that we made this choice, it’s a beautiful town.” Prejith works at an abbatoir in Corowa and played cricket for City Colts last season in their A grade squad. While he has taken a step back from his cricketing commitments taking care of newborn son Daven while Anitha works weekends, Prejith said he has thoroughly enjoyed being part of the community. “It’s a really welcoming community, they support people and have supported me really well,” he said. Others who received their citizenship on Friday morning were Mary Ann Collins, Morgan Courtney, Jerico Paulino and Mayurachat Saengsai.

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