E&OE.
I do want to say to each and every one of you today, thank you for making the decision to become an Australian citizen.
It is a decision that millions before you have made and people who have now created a life for their children, grandchildren and many generations to come, that your parents or grandparents in many cases could never have imagined.
And to be an Australian citizen is to win the lottery of life. On this day, the 26th of January, millions of Australians mark that through their family history as the day that they committed to this great country.
As we celebrate the best country in the world, we do so respectfully about our Indigenous culture, but also of our British heritage, and also the great migrant story.
In our country, we don’t talk enough about people who have made a tough decision in many cases to leave family or loved ones behind, to leave children behind in some circumstances, to start a new life.
And particularly the Second World War, the post-Second World War period, people who came here from from all parts of Europe, from Asia, from Americas, it is an incredible story when you look back through it.
People who came here with not a dollar in their pocket, and yet got an education or worked hard and educated their children and now their subsequent generations are more Australian than anyone.
I just think if you’ve been here and you can trace your family tree back 60,000 years, or your Australian family tree just goes back to the 1850s – which is the case for my family – or if you’re sworn in today, we are equal Australians.
I think it’s an important thing to remind ourselves of today.
We are all of equal value.
We don’t have different stages or different gradations of Australian citizenship.
We are all equal and that is what makes our country great place and that’s what we celebrate today.
Happy Australia Day, everyone.
[ends]