Territory Day Citizenship Ceremony: Alice Springs welcomes 54 new Australian citizens

2021’s Territory Day Citizenship Ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, and included a diverse range of people from various countries.

THERE were tears of joy and beaming smiles as Piyadigamage Lashen De Silva finally became an Australian citizen on Thursday.

Mr De Silva moved to Alice Springs from Sri Lanka more than six years ago and works as a mechanic in town.

He said he had dreamt of moving to Australia and becoming a citizen here since he was in school.

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To achieve this, he undertook four years of full time study.

“I went to a college in Sri Lanka to undertake training [in mechanics] … as there was a high demand for mechanics in Australia.”

“Australia is a good, peaceful place to live. In my country it is sad to say that it’s not good to live because of politics and everything. I am so happy.”

New Australian citizen Piyadigamage Lashen De Silva with his four-year-old son, Reyon De Silva Pyadigamage.

Mr De Silva is one of 54 residents from various countries who received citizenship in a delayed Territory Day Citizenship Ceremony held by Alice Springs Town Council on Thursday.

2021’s Territory Day Citizenship Ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, and included a diverse range of people from various countries such as

Pakistan, Latvia, Philippines, Singapore, India, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, United States of America, Indonesia, Italy, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, United Kingdom, Kenya, Finland, China, Kiribati, Japan, Estonia, Demark and England.

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