I am, you are, we are Australian

This weekend was a big weekend for us, it was the Queen's birthday weekend and Brisbane was putting on a massive citizenship ceremony for 500 people, of which we were two!  I hadn't thought a great deal about it really, I was just really pleased to be able to vote at last and to feel a sense of belonging here.  However, I was contacted a fortnight before the ceremony by the State Government, initially asking if I would mind if the media contacted me (they mentioned that they had seen my blog, this blog, and liked it!).  I was really chuffed, so I said of course.  This resulted in an interview with a journalist from the ABC, and this article, with a photo of me outside my office in the lovely native garden that was planted at the Ecosciences Precinct (more about the garden can be found here, from an ABC Gardening Australia feature).

But the excitement didn't end there!  I was then contacted again later in the week, and was asked if I would like to give a speech on behalf of the new citizens.  Would I?!  What an honour!! Of course, I said yes, and then realised just how big the audience would be and panicked a little... I decided to focus on our love of the environment and the importance of Science, both of which I feel are somewhat threatened in the current political climate so I admit there was little political motivation there, but really these things are the two most important things that brought us to Australia and what keep me and my other half Edd here.