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Last modified: 27 Jun 2023 11:35am

A seated crowd watch a school kapa haka group performing in front of screens with the New Zealand flagSelwyn’s ranks for new Kiwi have grown again with new citizens from eight different countries welcomed at the latest citizenship ceremony.

A group of 38 people from Croatia to Nepal, Germany to India became Kiwi at the ceremony at Te Ara Ātea.

Te Taumutu Rūnanga chairperson Liz Brown welcomed the new citizens, noting the word for citizen in te reo Māori is kirirarau —  meaning the skin, or person, that settles and welcoming the new citizens to the place they have settled. She also noted the upcoming time of Matariki, and reminded the new citizens and their supporters that Matariki is also a time of remembrance, to remember those that have gone before.

Burnham Military Camp Commandant Major Julie Richardson also welcomed the group, along with Mayor Sam Broughton, who encouraged the new citizens to share the celebrations and traditions of where they have travelled from with their friends and neighbours.

“We’re a stronger, richer place for what you bring to Selwyn.”