LAST week Glenelg Council conferred Australian Citizenship on 11 Shire residents.

The ceremony, which took place at Glenelg Council’s Portland office, saw Mayor Karen Stephens formalise the residents’ transformation into Australian citizens.

The newly minted citizens were supported by family and friends as well as attending councillors.

Dr Rakesh Patel, who originally hails from India, was one of the Portland residents who can now call himself an Australian.

“It feels really good and privileged to be an Australian citizen,” he said.

Mr Patel arrived in Australia in 2012 for 12 months.

“I was preparing for my Australian Medical Council exams. I am a doctor, overseas doctor, so we have to sit for these exams and get qualifications equivalent to Australia,” he said.

After finishing the exams Dr Patel went back to India before returning to Australia in 2019.

He said Australia has a better quality of life with a lot of natural beauty and becoming an Australian citizen opens more opportunities.

“It is beautiful, calm, clean, peaceful…plenty of opportunities for everyone here,” he said.

“I can vote now.

“I get an Australian passport. On that passport, I can visit many different countries. I'm looking forward to that.”

Tamarra Mathews-Kays from Casterton was another resident who gained citizenship last week after moving to Australia in 2009 from New Zealand.

She had one word to describe the feeling.

“Amazing,” she said.

“I've waited 12 years for this.

“I moved here when I was 14.

“My father's Australian, but it's taken me quite a while to get here today.”

Miss Mathew-Kays said Australia had more opportunities than her home country, including what she said was a better education system.

Miss Mathew-Kays said the biggest surprise to her when she arrived was how friendly Australians were.

Mayor Stephens said becoming an Australian citizen was an important event for those making the transition and that it was an honour to be involved.

“It's a really important day for these people, and it's just such a great role to have… to confer these individuals in our community to be Australian citizens,” she said.

“It's a wonderful obligation that I have, one of the great pleasures of being mayor is to be able to do this and just see the pleasure on people's faces and how important this is to them.”

Alongside Mayor Stephens, Cr Robyn McDonald, Cr Scott Martin, Cr John Northcott and Cr Alistair McDonald were also in attendance.