The Mayor's Column
Mosman Council’s Citizenship ceremonies are occasions of both solemnity and happiness. Held every couple of months, if fewer than forty people are registered, the event is in the Council Chambers. Up to eighty, and it is held in the Grand Hall of the Art Gallery and Community Centre. Knowing what an important step this is in people’s lives, we make the event as personal and celebratory as possible.
Mosman is demonstrably a community of cultural diversity, with the applicant’s countries of origin numbering up to up to thirty-seven on a given night.
The mayor presides over this Act of Law and reminds candidates of their rights and responsibilities as Australian citizens. Small groups, often in families, swear their allegiance to the Commonwealth of Australia, they are applauded and presented with the necessary certificates and a shrub which has been grown by our bushcare staff from seed native to our area as a growing reminder of the special day.
Local scouting groups are a great help in providing ushers and tray bearers. Guests are invited, including Hon. Tony Abbott Federal member for Warringah and regular attendee Jillian Skinner, member for North Shore and Deputy Leader of the Opposition. Councillor Anne Connon shares her own citizenship experience in this place forty years ago.
Friends and relatives take photos, join in singing “Advance Australia Fair” and partake of champagne, juice and Aussie treats such as Lamingtons.
People are usually bubbling over with excitement, some tearful, all conscious of the enormity of the step they have just taken and grateful for the privilege of becoming Australian citizens.
Recently, Refugee Week reminded us that not all those reaching our shores are so fortunate. These are the refugees who have fled from countries which are war-torn or flagrantly abuse human rights. The plight of those detained in Refugee camps during an assessment process, which can split families and take years to complete, is well known.
Less understood is the desperate situation of asylum seekers, out in the community, here on bridging visas. They are denied the right to work or to access government benefits of any kind, including Medicare, education or social security. They are stateless, without the means of survival and reliant on the financial support of people of goodwill in the community, including the Bridge for Asylum Seekers Foundation, a broad group founded in 2003, consisting of churches, human rights groups, politicians and individuals, including Mosman residents.
Mosman is supporting them and you are invited to a special film night which will be presented by well-known resident Peter FitzSimons – We will be remembered for this – followed by supper session with the film’s writer/producer Jess Taylor at Mosman Council Chambers on Monday 3 September at 6.30pm.
Cr Denise Wilton, Mayor of Mosman
