Friday, January 24, 2020 « the western weekender
Calling Australia home Dozens of proud local residents to become Australian citizens this weekend NICOLA BARTON
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ustralia Day on Sunday will be extra special for 70 Penrith residents, who will officially become Australian citizens. It will be a momentous occasion for many Penrith families like Jon Castillo and his four-year-old daughter Carmela, as they make the pledge to become citizens. Back in 2011 Mr Castillo followed in his brother’s footsteps and came to Australia from the Philippines as an international student, where he studied a nursing degree at Western Sydney University. Now, he currently works for Nepean Hospital on the Penrith Community Mental Health team and said he feels a great honour serving the community. “Australia has been very good to me and my family, we are living a comfortable life here,” Mr Castillo said. “It feels good, working for Nepean Hospital because it kind of feels like I get to give back to the community because Australia has been good to us.” Mr Castillo first moved to Thornton in December 2017 after living with family in Liverpool. He said he feels that Penrith is a great place to raise his young family.
“We love Thornton, it’s very family friendly, everyone thinks things about Penrith being too far and so on but we love Penrith, everything is close, the people are nice and I work only three minutes away from home, everything is here,” Mr Castillo said. Mr Castillo currently lives with his wife and two children with another baby on the way. His eldest, four- year- old Carmela, will also be becoming an Australian citizen at this weekend’s citizenship ceremony in Penrith. “I met my wife in the Philippines and we married in 2015 but she has to go back home to have surgery because they discovered she had ovarian cysts when pregnant,” Ms Castillo explained. “Because of this she was gone for 18 months so now she has to wait until next year to apply for citizenship.” Being born in the country, his youngest child is automatically an Australian citizen. Mr Castillo said he feels excited and proud to be making the pledge this Sunday. Members of the community interested in becoming Australian citizens can contact the Department of Home Affairs on 13 18 81.
Jon Castillo and his family this week. Photo: Megan Dunn.
Night work to continue on Northern Road until April
COME ALONG TO THE PENRITH JOBS FAIR Explore new careers and employment opportunities Find out more about jobs available locally Meet potential employees and employers Construction work continues on The Northern Road.
Friday 7 February 2020 9.30am - 3.30pm Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre Herbert Street, Cambridge Park NSW 2747
EMILY FESZCZUK
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To find out more, visit employment.gov.au/penrithJF or please contact my office.
MELISSA McINTOSH MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR LINDSAY
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Authorised by Melissa McIntosh MP, Liberal Party of Australia, 331 High Street, Penrith NSW 2750.
331 High Street, Penrith NSW 2750 (02) 4722 0600 melissa.mcintosh.mp@aph.gov.au melissamcintosh.com.au MelissaMcIntoshMP WW39796
isruptions to traffic on The Northern Road through South Penrith will continue for several months. The work is part of the process to build new lanes to expand The Northern Road as traffic numbers increase, and construction of Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek continues. Work including drainage and resurfacing on the eastern side of the road will be carried out from Friday, January 24 to Friday, April 10 if the weather permits.
Lane closures, traffic control and reduced speed limits will be in place for the safety of workers and motorists. Most of the work will be carried out at night to avoid disrupting busy traffic through the day. Motorists are advised to drive to the conditions and follow the direction of signs and traffic control. Major changes have already been implemented on The Northern Road, with lane closures and detours in place over recent months. For the latest traffic updates, download the Live Traffic NSW App, visit livetraffic.com or call 132 701.