General News
5 February, 2023
Horsham welcomes its newest citizens
Ten years ago Pradip and Binda Bhujel were celebrating their wedding in Nepal and dreaming of a new life in Australia. Now the couple are citizens of their newly adopted home - together with their Aussie-born daughter Prizna. The four-year-old...
Ten years ago Pradip and Binda Bhujel were celebrating their wedding in Nepal and dreaming of a new life in Australia.
Now the couple are citizens of their newly adopted home - together with their Aussie-born daughter Prizna.
The four-year-old, among the youngest to take up citizenship in Horsham, couldn't hide her excitement about turning True Blue on Australia Day.
"I'm very excited about becoming an Australian," she said.
"I'm feeling so good about it."
And while a happy crowd gathered for an Australia Day breakfast ahead of presentations to Horsham's Citizen of the Year Dianne Lewis and Young Citizen of the Year Michael Timms, some of the city's newest residents were beginning their life as card-carrying Australians.
Mr Bhujel came to Australia in 2015 with his wife as a student to pursue his Master’s degree in Project Management from Central Queensland University, Melbourne.
After finishing his studies in 2017, they moved to Bendigo, where Prizna was born in 2018, and where Mr Bhujel secured his permanent residency in 2019.
The move to Horsham came soon after, and the family say they love it here so much they want to spend the rest of their lives here.
“Horsham is a family-friendly town with a diverse range of people, and all facilities like cafes, restaurants and service centres are within a short trip,” Mr Bhujel said. “I can spend this time with friends and family.
"We're very happy to call Australia home. We have lived here for more than seven years.
“We can celebrate the freedom of life in Australia - and the most important thing is equality.
"There are people from different backgrounds and there is no gender difference, and there is an equal opportunity to participate in different levels of jobs, which is the best thing I like about Australia."
"Horsham is a friendly town with a diverse community. I have found that people want to know each other and make some strong bonds, which is good for the multicultural people in this town."
Mr and Mrs Bhujel celebrate their religious and cultural festivals with other multicultural families in Horsham.
"We celebrate our festivals like Diwali and Tihar with other Nepalese and Indian families in the town," he said.
“My daughter Prizna loves to go to Kids Capers Play Centre in Horsham, and Sawyer Park and down the river. She always enjoys her time there.
“Our favourite breakfast cafe is Cheeky Fox and Thai Basil for dinner."
Mrs Bhujel, too, is thrilled to call Australia home.
“It will guarantee a safe future for my kid,” she said.
“We feel more secure and happier in Australia than in our home country.
“I love my time in Horsham with my family and friends."