MidCoast Council's mayor, David West and general manager, Adrian Panuccio, had the honour of welcoming the new citizens from 15 countries.

"Citizenship ceremonies are one of council's most special events, and it's a privilege to be a part of them," Mayor West said.

Among the conferees were Rahmon Yekinni, Aida Elawad, Johanna Van De Vis, Adnan Farooqi, and his daughter Aleena Farooqi.

Mayor West congratulated the region's newest citizens on pledging their allegiance to Australia and wished them all the best for the future.

Rahmon made the incredibly brave decision to emigrate to Australia from Nigeria in February, 2015.

His whole family emigrated to America, but he had other plans.

He asked the immigration official, "Where is a country where I can do a master's degree?" The answer had him choosing between Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Rahmon came to Australia with a bachelor's degree in microbiology and gained a master's in nursing from the University of New England in Armidale.

From there, he began work as a registered nurse in Taree and now works at Manning Base Hospital as a clinical nurse educator in mental health.

"My favourite thing about Australia is that people are really friendly and very accommodating compared to other countries. I was worried about moving to regional areas, in case people weren't accepting of my culture, but that hasn't been my experience at all," he said.

Aida emigrated to Australia from Sudan in 2015. What encouraged her to settle in Taree was the opportunity to work as a paediatrician at Manning Base Hospital.

"Taree is a beautiful place, and the people here are very nice," she said.

Her favourite thing about Australia is barbecues.

Taree's Johanna said it's "only taken me 63 years" to become an Australian citizen, although she emigrated from the Netherlands when she was seven years old.

She grew up in Blacktown, Sydney and many years ago followed her parents to the Mid Coast region, where they operated a grocery store in Wingham's Combined Street.

Tragically the store burnt down in the early 1970s.

She has lived in Taree for 47 years and raised five children - two girls and three boys - here.

"My favourite thing about Australia would be Indigenous art - I think it's very beautiful," said Johanna.

Adnan and his family emigrated to Sydney from Saudi Arabia in 2016. Following his wife's need to complete her training program as a general practitioner, they moved to Wingham in 2018 and lived there until April 2019, when they decided to move to Taree.

Adnan works from home as a business analyst with Essential Energy in Port Macquarie.

"My favourite Australian custom is barbecues. I really enjoy walking along the river and talking to everyone. Living in the Manning is very warm - everyone is friendly and will stop to have a chat about a random topic," he said.

The Farooqi family also welcomed baby Abdullah just 16 days before the ceremony.

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