It is a sense of freedom that Farina Palmer most values about the Australian way of life.
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Tomorrow the Iranian-born Bendigonian will officially become an Australian citizen.
Mrs Palmer is one of 30 residents planning to take part in the citizenship ceremony.
Mrs Palmer would be joined by people from all over the world, including from Bangladesh, Malta, Burma, Thailand, Iran, Denmark, Canada, South Korea, Phillipines, United Kingdom, India, Myanmar, New Zealand and Pakistan.
Mrs Palmer moved to Australia with her sister to study a bachelor of information technology at La Trobe University’s Bendigo campus in 2009.
It was in Bendigo she met and fell in love with Sam Palmer.
“We got married in 2012,” she said.
“He is an Aussie. He was born in Sydney and has lived almost his whole life in Bendigo.
“So this town has been home to me, especially because it is where I met the love of my life.”
Mrs Palmer now works at Bendigo Health.
Mrs Palmer said Australia was a good place to build a career because there were many more job opportunities for her here than in her country of birth.
“There’s more freedom in Australia. When you are a girl back in Iran you can study. You can get a job after you graduate too,” she said.
“But on the whole it is harder (for women to get a job), especially in the IT field. And I wanted to study technology and computers.”
Mrs Palmer said she had felt welcome in Australia from the moment she set foot in the country.
“I’m about to become a citizen but I’ve always felt at home,” she said.
There were lessons Mrs Palmer had learnt since moving to a new nation.
“Migrating to another country where everything is different made me learn and realise apart from a few differences we are all human,” she said.
“I think we all need to be loved. And it made me realise we are all similar, despite the secondary things like where we come from and all of those things.
“There is a lot binds us together.”
Mrs Palmer said there were many things she cherished about the Australian way of life.
“Most of all it is freedom. Freedom to believe what I want to believe, to be myself more,” she said.
“It’s the equality – not just between men and women but also between people of other races.”
The ceremony is scheduled to take place at Town Hall at 2.30pm and was the first the City of Greater Bendigo had planned for 2017.
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
