WHEN Peter Cheyne watches the Wallabies take on the All Blacks he might have a foot in both camps.
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Today, the Warrnambool resident will pledge his allegiance to the green and gold along with 18 others who will become an Australian citizen.
Mr Cheyne moved to the south-west about 15 years ago from New Zealand with his wife and three children.
Dairy farming brought him and his family to Timboon before he began working in the welfare sector.
He said the decision to become an Australian citizen, which was following in the footsteps of his wife and two of his children, was more a formality then anything else. “New Zealand is almost another state of Australia,” he said.
“I have no regrets about moving here. I don’t ever see myself shifting back. We love it here.
“There is family that we miss, but it’s not too far away.
“The last time Australia played New Zealand I rang my brother and said: ‘We won’.
“If I was talking to Australians I’d probably say: ‘We lost.’
“I’ll have a foot in both camps and just sit on the fence with that one.”
The citizenship presentations will be held as part of the Australia Day celebrations in the Warrnambool Botanic Gardens today.
The free celebration will begin at 10.30am with a Welcome to Country and includes a barbecue lunch and children’s entertainment including a giant inflatable slide, face-painting and other activities.
cquirk@fairfaxmedia.com.au