‘Have some patriotism’: Minister hits back at ‘not normal’ citizenship attendance

A key government minister popping up at mass citizenship ceremonies is “suspicious”, political opponents say.

Thousands of new Australians have been given citizenship papers at a large ceremony in Sydney.

The unusually large ceremony – Friday coming at the start of a week-long citizenship blitz – has drawn the ire of the opposition politicians.

Opposition MPs have accused Home Affairs Minister Mr Burke of essentially handing out citizenships in marginal seats as a way to show face and electioneer.

Mr Burke says there is a backlog of people deserving of citizenship, and naysayers are unpatriotic.

“I was meeting people who have been waiting for nine, 10, 12 months – longer than that – over recent days, and I want them to stand up and make a pledge of commitment to Australia,” he told Sky News on Friday morning.

Tony Burke’s attendance at the ceremonies as Homes Affairs Minister is unusual. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“What we’ve had is a huge backlog of people who are entitled to have these citizenship ceremonies and different councils weren’t having enough ceremonies. I just say to the people who are complaining: have a bit of patriotism about this.”

Independent MP Zoe Daniel labelled the opposition’s “seat stacking” claims as “the usual Coalition dog whistling on migration”.

Beaming faces filled a Sydney Olympic Park events centre on Friday morning as 750 people affirmed their new citizenships. There were further mass citizenship ceremonies scheduled for Friday afternoon, across the weekend and into next week; 12,500 people are expected to become official Australians at various ceremonies in the coming weeks.

Syrian-born Obada Twaish, with wife Maria Hussein, and their children. Mr Twaish had been waiting 14 years to become a citizen. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Nepalese-born Suvekshya Kayastha and Aashish Shrestha became citizens on Friday. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Dozens of different countries of birth were read aloud, and the ceremony was described to NewsWire as joyous.

Mr Burke told the people in attendance to bring their culture to their new home and keep their languages.

Mr Burke was joined by independent Fowler MP Dai Le at a smaller ceremony in Liverpool on Wednesday when 250 people officially became citizens.

Ms Le is a deputy mayor as well, and says the Homes Affairs Minister’s attendance is unheard of.

“I’ve been attending citizenship ceremonies for a decade and have never seen a minister at one,” she told NewsWire.

“Minister Burke told me that he is going to conduct citizenship ceremonies every day for the next couple of weeks.”

About 750 people officially became Australian citizens at Sydney Olympic Park on Friday morning. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

“This is not normal, the Minister for Home Affairs has not routinely conducted citizenship ceremonies at this scale in Western Sydney for as long as I can recall being involved in citizenship ceremonies.

“It’s unprecedented, and right before an election, it looks suspicious.”

Citizenship ceremonies are usually done by mayors. But on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Labor frontbencher Mr Burke will present 6000 new Australians with their formal citizenship certificates. When a mayor anywhere in the country bestows citizenship, they are doing it on behalf of the home affairs minister.

“Tony Burke should be transparent about why, on the eve of an election and at his direction, the Home Affairs Department has taken over citizenship ceremonies from local councils in Western Sydney in a rushed and unorthodox process,” opposition home affairs spokesman James Patterson said.

Many of the new citizens are residents of the electorates of Parramatta, Werriwa and Fowler.

At the last election, Labor won Parramatta and Werriwa, but the party’s first preference vote fell 4.4 and 7.9 per cent respectively.

Friday’s citizenship ceremony has been described to NewsWire as joyous. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

In Fowler, Labor suffered an 18 per cent drop in primary vote, but still took the most first preference votes. However, preferences slingshot the independent, Ms Le, into the seat – marking Labor’s first loss in Fowler since the seat was created in 1984. This time around, Labor has chosen a candidate who actually lives in the area.

Despite the clear troubles Labor has had in these seats, Mr Burke says the people becoming citizens are deserving.

“I don’t care what seat people are from. I don’t care which way people are going to vote. But I do care about people who want to make a Pledge of Commitment to Australia, who have the legal right to do so, getting that chance as soon as possible,” he said on Sky News.

“ … I can’t hold citizenship ceremonies over the course of summer when a whole lot of people are away (on holidays) … I thought the Australia Day ceremonies might do a lot to clear the backlog, turns out they didn’t.

“I can’t hold ceremonies while parliament is on, so parliament’s now finished and I’m holding ceremonies. One council (Liverpool) alone had 700 people wanting to get allocated to their ceremonies and they weren’t holding the ceremonies.”

Originally published as ‘Have some patriotism’: Minister hits back at ‘not normal’ citizenship attendance