''You're still allowed to support your rugby team when they play the All Blacks - but not too loudly.''
That was one piece of advice Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper dished out to the district's newest New Zealanders last week.
Seven people - David Cameron, Julie Batt, Ben Joseph, Carl and Tracey Lawson, Grant McLellan and Paul Spooner - all of British nationality, were granted New Zealand citizenship and swore allegiance to the Queen at a ceremony in Alexandra.
Mr Lepper and deputy mayor Neil Gillespie carried out the ceremony and noted it was unusual to have a whole contingent of new citizens from one country. A choir from St Gerard's School sang the national anthem and the new citizens were each presented with a kowhai tree. Mr Cameron visited this country on holiday in 1999 and found it ''a breath of fresh air - the people and the scenery''.
He described Central Otago as ''special, beyond description'' and said becoming a New Zealand citizen was a gift. Carl and Tracey Lawson first visited New Zealand on their honeymoon in 1995 and visited again in 2007, eventually settling on a lifestyle block near Alexandra. The couple said New Zealand was a welcoming place and they felt at home here.
Mrs Batt said she had become a ''true Kiwi'' and believed Central Otago was ''one of the most unique, beautiful places in the world''.
