I am an Australian!

Yes, you read correctly. After just over 3 years in Australia, yesterday I became an Australian citizen. It took several months of waiting for the paper work to get through but I have now received the official phone call from Canberra saying I am "in the system" and that I should get my official certificate in a 2-3 weeks.

I have actually reclaimed the citizenship I lost as a child when my Father (an Aussie) took Canadian citizenship thereby giving up his Australian citizenship without knowing it. This means that I don't get a citizenship ceremony and I don't get to swear an oath which is actually quite disappointing.

The next step is to sponsor Edith and Philippe for their permanent residency. Philippe is not a citizen although he was born here because Australian law states that for a person to be a citizen by birth, at least one of their parents must be either a citizen or a permanent resident at the time of their birth. Because Edith and I were here on a temporary work visa (4 years is still temporary), he did not qualify. So, he is a citizen of Canada. After two years of permanent residency they will both be entitled to apply for citizenship.

I now get to vote, pay the Medicare levy (1.5% of my salary) and go on the dole. I am looking forward to the first, dreading the second and laughing about the third.



Here are some very interesting facts about Australia:

• The name Australia comes from the Latin Terra Australis Incognito which means the Unknown Southern Land.
• A little over 200 years ago Australia was sparsely inhabited by the aboriginal people. In 1788 the first European settlers arrived in the First Fleet.
• It is estimated that right now, there are 20,758,120 people in Australia. 73.9% were Australian born and of those born elsewhere, 36.2% came from the United Kingdom, New Zealand or Ireland, with the majority of the remainder coming from Italy, Vietnam, Greece, China and Germany
• Around 80% of the Australian population lives within the eastern seaboard or the coastal fringes of the continent. Australia is one of the world’s most urbanised countries, with about 70 per cent of the population living in the 10 largest cities.
• The smallest state is Tasmania
• It is the driest continent on earth with around 1/3rd considered desert
• Australia is the lowest continent in the world with an average of only 330 meters. The lowest point is Lake Eyre in South Australia at 15 m. below sea level.
• The hottest temperature recorded in Australia was 53 degrees celsius at Cloncurry in Queensland in 1889
• In 1832, 300 female Convicts at the Cascade Female Factory mooned the Governor of Tasmania during a chapel service. It was said that in a "rare moment of collusion with the Convict women, the ladies in the Governor's party could not control their laughter."
• In 1838 it was declared illegal to swim at public beaches during the day! This law was enforced until 1902.
• Australia was the second country to give women the vote. The first was New Zealand.
• Australia's first police force was a band of 12 of the most well behaved Convicts.
• In 1954, Bob Hawke was immortalised by the Guinness Book of Records for sculling 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds. Bob later became the Prime Minister of Australia.
• January 26, Australia day, is the anniversary of ships arriving in Sydney carrying a load of Convicts.
• Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason. Australia is the only country whose people eat both animals on it’s coat of arms.
• A monotreme is an animal that lays eggs and suckles its young. The world's only monotremes are the platypus and the echidna and are found only in Australia. Monotreme means “one hole” because they use the same hole to poop, pee, shag and give birth. When a specimen of the platypus was first sent to England, it was believed the Australians had played a joke by sewing the bill of a duck onto a rat.
• The box jellyfish is considered the world's most venomous marine creature. The box jellyfish has killed more people in Australia than stonefish, sharks and crocodiles combined.
• The Sydney Funnelweb spider is considered the world's most deadly spider. It is the only spider that has killed people in less than 2 hours. Its fangs are powerful enough to bite through gloves and fingernails. The only animals without immunity to the Funnelweb's venom are humans and monkeys.
• In 1977, Alan Jones scored a surprise victory in the Austrian Grand Prix. Initially officials were going to play the Austrian anthem but then realised that Australia and Austria were not the same country. Unfortunately, they didn't have the Australian anthem so instead a local drunk played "Happy Birthday to You" on a trumpet.
• Australians may refer to Americans as 'Seppos'. This is an abbreviation for 'Septic Tank' which is rhyming slang for 'Yank'.
• The name for the Australian marsupial Kangaroo came about when some of the first white settlers saw this strange animal hopping along and they asked the Aborigines what it was called. They replied with 'Kanguru', which in the native language meant 'I don't know' or ‘what are you talking about’
• Australia was founded by Convicts. Its homicide rate is 1.8 per 100,000 population. The United States was founded by religious zealots. Its homicide rate is 6.3 per 100,000. Almost 400% greater than Australia.
• For each person in Australia there are two sheep and over 16 rabbits, the latter introduced in 1859 by one enterprising man who brought 24 wild rabbits from England in an effort to remind him of home.