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Newcastle welcomes new citizens at Australia Day ceremony by Helen Gregory Source: Herald Gift to our next generation ERANGA Tissera and his wife Marian Fernando describe it as one of the most difficult but rewarding decisions they’ve ever made.  The Sri Lankan raised couple had completed their tertiary studies – Mr Tissera in engineering and Ms Fernando in computer science – and started working when they emigrated almost 9000 kilometres away, to Australia.  “Initially it was very hard to leave our parents, immediate families and friends, but the move has paid off,” he said.  “We are better off in Australia and the opportunities are immense here.  “It’s the best decision we ever made – this is the land of gold.” The family were four of the 180 people from 32 nations who pledged loyalty to their new homeland on Friday, in what was the biggest Australia Day citizenship ceremony in NSW and the largest ...