Qld seniors’ week celebrations

A 92-year-old great-grandmother and a group from 11 different countries will become Australian citizens at a special ceremony to be held on Friday 25 August in Brisbane, as part of Queensland Seniors’ Week 2006 celebrations.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and
Multicultural Affairs, Andrew Robb, will preside over the ceremony
which will be hosted by the Ethnic Communities’ Council of Queensland (ECCQ), in partnership with the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs.

A total of 36 new citizens from countries including South Africa, the
United Kingdom and Fiji will take the final step to becoming Australian
citizens. The oldest is 92-year-old great-grandmother, Gladys Pearson.

Mr Robb said while 16,000 people had become citizens in Queensland last year, there were another 900,000 nationally that were eligible.

Mr Robb paid credit to the work of ECCQ, a voluntary, not for profit
organisation that has a proud record of encouraging community groups to get involved in the development of this country. The ECCQ runs a series of social programs, including a 60 bed nursing home, and has organised a citizenship ceremony during Queensland’s Citizenship Week for the past 13 years.

For further information visit www.citizenship.gov.au