Australian Consulate-General

New York CG, United States of America

Consulate-General address: 150 East 42nd Street, 34th Floor, New York - Telephone: 212 351 6500 - Fax: 212 351 6501

Address to the Australia Day Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony, Canberra

THURSDAY 26 JANUARY 2012

PRIME MINISTER

I extend a very warm welcome to everyone gathered here today:

To those of you who are becoming Australian citizens and to those who have come to support you.

Not only your family and friends.

But complete strangers who have come to offer you their embrace, knowing that the gift of citizenship is a gift that grows with sharing.

Today is first time this ceremony has been held in this location, amidst some of our nation’s greatest landmarks.

We look up ANZAC Parade to the shrine honouring those who served our country in the most profound way possible – with the sacrifice of their lives.

We look around the lake to great institutions of culture, learning and justice, beyond we see symbols of Australia’s democracy in the old and new houses of parliament.

And just across the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge is Albert Hall where Prime Minister Chifley officiated at the very first Australian citizenship ceremony in 1949.

Today we live in very different times, but the meaning of this ceremony remains unchanged across six decades.

It is modern Australia’s greatest story – the story of inclusion and belonging which is immigration; culminating in our free acceptance of the duties and benefits of citizenship.

Since that first citizenship ceremony in 1949, more than 4 million of us have chosen to officially call Australia home.

Those four million of us left behind the life we knew: loved ones, familiar places, language, culture.

A brave and often painful decision, but a good decision.

Because for whatever we left behind, we gained so much more.

Freedom and opportunity.

Reward for effort

And a land of wide open spaces, not just geographically but wide spaces of the mind and heart to dream big dreams and imagine different, better future free of fear.

Today you join a rich and enduring story, begun countless centuries ago by the First Australians and continued by we who came here to build a great nation ‘with heart and hand’.

With the pledge you are about to make, you confirm in law what you have already accepted in your heart:

That is this your home – for you and your descendents forever.

And from all our different journeys, the Australian story has become our own.

Launch of Smartraveller III

On 25 November Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd launched a new phase of the Smartraveller campaign at Sydney International Airport.

Please review the updated smart traveller website. The Australian Consulate General encourages all Australians travelling abroad to register their travel plans on smarttraveller.gov.au.

US Travel Advisory Update

Travel Advice Accurate as of 10 September 2011

The US authorities have announced a heightened level of readiness and increased security measures as it commemorates the 10th Anniversary of September 11 2001. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's travel advisory for the United States has been revised and reissued. All travel advisories, including for the United States, are kept under close and constant review and are updated promptly to ensure they reflect our best understanding of the risks to Australians overseas. Please review the smart traveller website for current advisories.

Pay close attention to your personal security and monitor the media for information about possible new safety and security risks. We strongly recommend that you register your travel and contact details with us so we can contact you in an emergency.

Address to the Australia Day Flag Raising and Citizenship Ceremony, Canberra

Launch of Smartraveller III

US Travel Advisory Update

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