MICHELLE McGloughlin and her husband, John, were two of the eight Shoalhaven residents to receive Australian citizenship at the Shoalhaven City Council chambers on Tuesday.
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The two were joined by their baby boy, Hunter, who was born in Australia 10 weeks earlier, beating them to an Australian passport.
Michelle comes from Zimbabwe while John was born in Ireland, however both their lives took a very similar path and they met in the middle.
As a child, Michelle, who is the manager of Greko, moved with her family to South Africa from Rhodesia to escape the so-called Bush War.
John, a project manager for property developers, also moved to South Africa in the 1980s with his family, when his parents were transferred for work purposes.
They both went through high school in South Africa and finally met in 1999.
Together they travelled Europe on a motorbike before deciding they wanted to move to Australia.
“We both have family here,” Mr McGloughlin said.
“My sister lives here and all of Michelle’s family do too.
“So it was that factor along with the similarities Australia has with South Africa that persuaded us to move here.
“The lifestyles are very similar, except Australia has more opportunities and is not as wild as South Africa.
“Plus it’s just too cold to live in the Northern Hemisphere.”
They applied for a residency visa in 2000, and three years later were granted their application and moved to the Shoalhaven in 2006.
Mr and Ms McGloughlin and their son Hunter now call Huskisson home, where Mr McGloughlin currently commutes to Sydney each day as a freelance project manager.
Other residents who are now Australian citizens include Charles Attard from Malta, Evelyn Drew from Britain, Daisy Dunlop from England, Thanjira Elliott from Thailand, Glenys Kettlewell from the United Kingdom, Victoria Keys from the United Kingdom, Heather King from New Zealand, Gertrude Latour from Germany, Carmela Lavalle from Italy, Berendina Versteeg from the Netherlands and Nwet Win from Myanmar.
