• ​New citizens are welcomed at Australia Day ceremonies across WA

Premier Colin Barnett has congratulated nearly 3,000 people from 96 countries on becoming new Australian citizens at ceremonies being held across Western Australia today.

A total of 41 ceremonies were held across the State.  The largest was in the City of Wanneroo, where 750 people were welcomed as some of the State’s newest citizens.

Mr Barnett personally welcomed 62 new citizens at a ceremony in the City of Swan.

Prior to the ceremony, the Premier and Federal Social Services Minister Christian Porter helped the Kujah family celebrate their first Australia Day since moving to Perth from Syria last November.

The family is the first of 12,000 Syrian refugees to be relocated to Australia and today they enjoyed a community barbecue at a City of Bayswater Australia Day event.

“Western Australia is one of the country’s most multicultural States. The development of WA owes much to the hard work, valuable skills and commitment of those who have chosen to make this State their home,” Mr Barnett said.

“We are all West Australians, with a rich and diverse heritage, and as West Australians we embrace our cultural, religious and linguistic diversity.”

The cities of Joondalup, Stirling, Cockburn, South Perth and Mandurah also held large Australia Day citizenship ceremonies.  Regional centres across the State including Geraldton and Kalgoorlie-Boulder welcomed new citizens.

Of WA’s 2,990 new citizens, 1,985 originated from five countries: the United Kingdom, South Africa, the Philippines, India and Ireland.

Many citizenship ceremonies were combined with the presentation of the Premier’s Australia Day Active Citizenship Awards, which are offered in each WA local government area.

The awards recognise and celebrate active citizenship and contributions to community life.

Fact File

• Since the first citizenship ceremony 66 years ago, about 4.6 million people across Australia have chosen to become Australian citizens
• Data from the 2011 Census indicated that 1,805,940 people (81 per cent of WA’s population) were Australian citizens