By Jenel Hunt
Is this some kind of record? Sonya Mather has lived in Australia for 70 years and she has only just become an Australian citizen!
Sonya added the final cherry to the top of her Australian adventure when she stood up at the citizenship ceremony to receive her certificate of citizenship last week (16 March).
Her children – all born in Australia – have teased her about it for decades. But the truth is, Sonya has always been Australian in everything except name. For a start, she has no accent at all. Well, only an Aussie accent, anyway.
“Since nearly their first breath my kids have had a go at me – lovingly – about this,” she said.
Their teasing may even have delayed the process … by a decade or three.
“I have aways considered myself a proud Australian, but I am actually UK born. I was about 2 years old when the family moved and I’ve always just felt Australian,” she said.
Stanthorpians know her from her early years in the district with an angora goat stud from 1986, the days when she ran a coffee shop in town and her stint as show secretary with the Stanthorpe Agricultural Society.
Her daughter-in-law Dep Vo is in the throes of applying for Australian citizenship and it was probably that – rather than the constant ragging by her four children – that made her decide that perhaps it was time she also applied for citizenship.
“Dep did all the reading and the research. I just filled out a form online,” said Sonya.
“All this time, I’ve had a UK passport. I’ll have to apply for an Australian one now.“
Sonya said she had been ‘back’ to the United Kingdom but had never felt British.
Now it’s official. She’s an Aussie through and through.
And the kids will have to find something else to tease her about.
