TODAY is a special day for Sienna Marais.
Not only will the three-year-old become an Australian citizen in a ceremony in Maitland, New South Wales, but she gets the chance to sing the words of the national anthem that she has been practising at home, and wave a flag acquired for the occasion.
Sienna and her parents Catherine and Jason are among the hundreds of people taking part in citizenship ceremonies across the Hunter Valley this Australia Day.
The Rutherford residents, originally from South Africa, are excited and proud to officially become Aussies.
“It’s a very big day,” Mrs Marais said.
“We absolutely adore the country and it was just so important for us to be Australian.”
Mrs Marais visited Australia for a few years as a teenager, before returning with her husband in 2004.
They lived on Queensland’s Gold Coast before settling in Rutherford three years ago.
Sienna was born here but not as an Australian citizen because her parents were on an Australian business visas at the time.
Her brother, Kane, born on December 4, has citizenship because Mr and Mrs Marais were then permanent residents.
Sienna has been busy preparing for today’s big occasion.
“We’ve been learning the anthem and she’s been running around with the flag,” Mrs Marais said.
True to Australia Day tradition, the family will have a barbecue at home with friends after the morning citizenship ceremony.
Mrs Marais said she already considered the whole family as being Australian, but was pleased the status would be official from today.
