Family looks forward to new citizenship
WITH more than 40 people set to take on Australian citizenship on the Tweed this Australia Day, it will be an exciting day for many.
Ikesh and Minal Patel, along with daughters Hemali and Mallika, are among those who will become Australian citizens at the Tweed Shire Council's official event at Murwillumbah Civic Centre on Friday.
Mr Patel, originally from Fiji, said Hemali, 19 and Mallika, 17 were born in Auckland, New Zealand, where they lived for some years before settling in the Tweed about a decade ago.
But he said finally making the move to become citizens was a significant one for them.
"We're excited,” he said.
"There's better opportunities and we also (came here) for the lifestyle.”
Mr and Mrs Patel - who live in Terranora - have been running discount store FDBs in Tweed Mall, Tweed Heads, for the past 10 years.
He said running a business had been a "challenge” and while they had run a grocery store during their time in New Zealand, it was different to anything they'd done before.
Hemali, who is studying business at Griffith University on the Gold Coast and previously attended Lindisfarne Anglican College, said she was looking forward to finally becoming a citizen.
