18 July, 2019

Gunnedah is on the brink of the creation of a group to support new migrants to the shire and develop the multicultural appeal of Gunnedah.

Gunnedah Shire Councillors voted yesterday to hold an event to promote a new group called Multicultural Gunnedah.

Mayor Jamie Chaffey said the event would include an invitation to the man behind the successful Multicultural Tamworth group, Eddie Whitham, to be a guest speaker.

“Eddie Whitham recently spoke to Gunnedah’s Sister City Working Group,” Cr Chaffey said.

“The group has achieved impressive things in Tamworth, supporting migrants in areas including employment, housing, language difficulties and schooling, as well as helping them make friends within the community.

“Tamworth now has as many as 30-35 people becoming Australian citizens at every council meeting. That’s an amazing result and shows just how welcome people feel in the area.

“We need to support migrants in Gunnedah in the same way. We have a growing number of people here from a large variety of backgrounds. We want them to feel welcome and to stay in our shire.

“Multicultural Gunnedah could follow a similar path to Multicultural Tamworth as a voluntary organisation helping people who are new to Australia feel at home.

“It’s an exciting idea, and we hope Gunnedah embraces this chance to strengthen our community and celebrate cultural diversity within the shire.”

A date will soon be set for the event, which will be chaired by Cr Chaffey.

Photo Caption: Gunnedah Mayor Jamie Chaffey with new Australian citizens at a citizenship ceremony in Gunnedah.

ENDS

Media Contact: Eliza Gallen (02) 6740 2100.