Finally he becomes one of us
#1
Posted 13 February 2004 - 08:39
Aussie driving legend finally becomes an Aussie.
MONDAY 2ND FEBRUARY 2004
He won the Australian Touring Car Championship four times. He also won Australia's greatest domestic motor race, Bathurst, four times. Yet only today, almost 15 years after his retirement from regular motor racing competition, did Allan Moffat, OBE, become an Australian.
The Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Mr Gary Hardgrave, conferred Australian citizenship on Moffat this morning in a ceremony at the Australian Grand Prix Corporation offices in Melbourne.
The man known for his flying starts in motor races admitted he had been “a few laps behind” in taking up citizenship.
Canadian-born Moffat first came to Australia as a student with his parents in the early 1960s and has lived permanently in the country since the late '60s, when he embarked on his record-setting racing career.
“I first made inquiries about becoming an Australian citizen in the early 1970s, but one way or another I never followed it through,” Moffat said. “I love Australia, obviously, and have long considered myself Australian.
“Over recent months I decided I needed to get on with my citizenship application. I felt it was time to stop being a foreigner in the country I love and have lived in for so long.
“I suppose this makes me a fair dinkum Aussie now – after all these years.”
“The match races Allan and Peter Brock had at the Grand Prix a few years back in an old Ford Falcon and Holden Torana, and more recently the speed comparisons with Allan driving a BMW road car against a V8 Supercar and a Formula One car, have been among the most popular features of the events we've staged.”
While these days Moffat is associated with BMW Australia, the official vehicle supplier to the AGPC, his record sees him regarded as the country's greatest racer of Ford cars.
He won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1973, '76, '77 and '83 – the first three times in Ford Falcons and the last in a Mazda RX-7.
He won the Bathurst 500 in 1970 and '71 and the Bathurst 1000 in 1973 and '77 – all four of those victories in Ford Falcons. However, he is perhaps most famous for the mighty 1969 Trans Am Ford Mustang he raced to 101 victories.
Moffat received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1978 for exceptional services to motor sport.
While Moffat, 64, has not retained any of his race cars, die-cast models have been made of almost all the machines he raced and are now highly-prized collectors' items. He was filmed and photographed with many of those models at today's ceremony.
His greatest racing rival, Peter Brock, led a rendition of the national anthem, Advance Australia Fair, as the ceremony came to its conclusion.
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#2
Posted 13 February 2004 - 09:04
I'm sure Allan would put Pete Geoghegan up as his greatest rival of all. And maybe Janey should be in there before Brock too... but maybe I'm living in the past...
#3
Posted 13 February 2004 - 10:39
#4
Posted 13 February 2004 - 11:28
Originally posted by bill moffat
Good God, an Australian Moffat, what next ?
Bill, I'd be careful if I were You- they might decide to punish You too and make You Aussie...
P.S. No (serious) offence is meant towards our dear antipodeans, just a lighearted poke...
#5
Posted 13 February 2004 - 12:28
So would they just possibly allow honorary citizenship to another Moffat?
#6
Posted 13 February 2004 - 12:31
What about Pauline? Oh, hang on, she already was, wasn't she?
#7
Posted 13 February 2004 - 22:37
_________________________________________Originally posted by bill moffat
Funnily enough I often get accused of being 'Stralian. My Welsh accent has mellowed since I left the Principality and it has a sort of Ozzie twang. I like my lagers, rugby (oops) and Holdens so I guess I might just fit in. My best school buddy lives in Perth and it sounds glorious.
So would they just possibly allow honorary citizenship to another Moffat?
Many years ago a song came out called ( Football Meat pies & Holden cars) So i guess you are just about there Honorary Bill True blue.
#8
Posted 14 February 2004 - 02:04
Originally posted by bill moffat
Funnily enough I often get accused of being 'Stralian. My Welsh accent has mellowed since I left the Principality and it has a sort of Ozzie twang. I like my lagers, rugby (oops) and Holdens so I guess I might just fit in. My best school buddy lives in Perth and it sounds glorious.
So would they just possibly allow honorary citizenship to another Moffat?
That should be more like 'Stralien - just slightly removed from alien, but with a very drawn out "a".
Every kid from the suburbs or the bush in Straya knows that.
Sorry; you're going to have to study more before you qualify.
But you're not alone; even Her Majesty calls Straya "Horse Trailer", so apparently it's harder to get a handle on than we who were born here might think.
#9
Posted 14 February 2004 - 03:42
Originally posted by Barry Lake
That should be more like 'Stralien - just slightly removed from alien, but with a very drawn out "a".
Every kid from the suburbs or the bush in Straya knows that.
Sorry; you're going to have to study more before you qualify.
But you're not alone; even Her Majesty calls Straya "Horse Trailer", so apparently it's harder to get a handle on than we who were born here might think.
I've been getting away with 'Strine. Shows the class of folk I hang out with.
Fraink S
#10
Posted 14 February 2004 - 08:51
we've come a bit since, no?
#11
Posted 15 February 2004 - 07:14
It's good to know that you have an Ozeeee connection your DaD would have
had to be a great person,
#12
Posted 15 February 2004 - 10:23
I suspect that he made enquiries and then found out he would need to relinquish his Canadian Citizenship to become an Aussie, and thought better of it. Now in the last 10 years Canada has relaxed its rules and allows it citizens to acquire another countres citizenship without losing Canadian citizenship.
Australia has a similar rule and I'm not sure its been relaxed (its been a while since I worked there. )
I believe this is probably the real reason its taken so long for Moffat to get around to it.
Now I wonder whether his great friend and rival Horst Kwech gave up his Australian citizenship in the 40 odds years since he moved to America.?
#13
Posted 15 February 2004 - 11:38
Originally posted by Ray Bell
Maybe his greatest living rival...
I'm sure Allan would put Pete Geoghegan up as his greatest rival of all.
I'm sure anyone that raced against him in that era would put Black Pete there, as he had the wood on everyone. I think that the Moffat/Brock rivalry was very special though, lasting for at least 21 years (1969-1990), in Series Production, Sports Sedans, shared teams and shared drives.
Also the fact that they were from opposite sides of the great General/FoMoCo divide helped immensely. And that they were portrayed as one whiter than white, and the other that would do anything to win.
#14
Posted 15 February 2004 - 11:41
Originally posted by Paul Newby
As somebody who used to conduct Citizenship interviews whilst working for the Dept of Immigration I have a reasonable grasp of citizenship laws across the world. For Allan Moffat to state that he "never followed through" with Australian Citizenship is a bit disingenious.
Alan was always a thinker, a smart man, you have to grant him that, but I don't think he would dis-ingenious himself just to become an Aussie
Disingenuous is the word I would have used......and there may be an element of truth in what you are saying Paul ;)
#15
Posted 15 February 2004 - 22:50
#16
Posted 16 February 2004 - 04:55
Quote --- Paul Newby
Now I wonder whether his great friend and rival Horst Kwech gave up his Australian citizenship in the 40 odds years since he moved to America.?
_________________________________________
Good ?????? i wonder if any of our American TNF's would be able to help out or give us some link
that could be checked out.
#17
Posted 16 February 2004 - 10:20
If Horst has work so long in the US, he'd be hard pushed to not have converted. Aren't the immigration/working laws pretty tough over there?
#18
Posted 16 February 2004 - 16:17
I thought he came to Oz to work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, as did many foreigners. Some came as migrants, but I'm not sure all of them were.
#19
Posted 16 February 2004 - 23:26
I think most of the labour force who came for the Snowy Scheme were migrants, the idea being that we would gain their abilities and their numbers through the work on the Snowy and they would then dissipate into other areas.
Probably this didn't apply to some managment areas, the people in charge of groups like Kaiser Morrison Raymond etc.
But I say that without any solid foundation...
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#20
Posted 17 February 2004 - 00:51
Originally posted by Barry Lake
While he lived, worked and raced in Australia, I am not absolutely sure that Kwech actually was officially an Australian.
I thought he came to Oz to work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme, as did many foreigners. Some came as migrants, but I'm not sure all of them were.
Barry,
I think it was mentioned in the Horst Kwech thread that he was born in Sydney in 1938, which would've made him an Australian citizen by birth (The Citizenship Act came into being in 1949 and I think that those born to foriegn nationals, excepting diplomats were citizens by birth until changes were made to the Act in, I think 1984.)
We should direct eldougo to the Horst Kwech thread.
#21
Posted 18 February 2004 - 11:53
But it has always stuck in my mind that, when I saw Kwech racing at Mount Druitt around 1957/58, the race announcer mentioned he was an engineer on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. I suppose he could have been mistaken - or I am remembering it incorrectly.
If Kwech was born in 1938, he would still have been a teenager when he raced at Mount Druitt - 18 or 19 years of age. That's a bit young to be an engineer... a bit young to have the money to own a very nice Buchanan bodied sports car, too.
He used to operate out of the BP Service Station in Cooma, or was sponsored by them.