Gunnedah's The Courthouse helping staff stay afloat in Covid-19 pandemic

His family has recently made the trip to join him just one month ago, and are ready and raring to start their new lives in the lucky country.

He has plans to become a permanent resident, but recent events have the potential to throw a spanner in the works.

With all the uncertainty and insecurity following the Covid-19 outbreak, their future was looking desolate.

"I was worrying actually," he explained.

"I am still working here, but with the virus, I was shaky, unsure of what would happen."

He said if he lost his job, there would have been nowhere or no-one for him to turn to for help.

"My family arrived last month so I have two kids, two daughters who have started school in Gunnedah.

"We left everything in Sri Lanka. We left because we wanted to start new life."

His daughters are five and seven, and explaining to them their newly established routine was changing was a difficult one.

"They came, and in the first week we went to parks, to the pool, and they started school," he said.

"They love it all. Then when we tell them about Coronavirus, they can't go to parks and pools, we say we have to be careful.

"They are young, they don't know what coronavirus is when they see the news, or on Facebook, so we say we will show them, we stay at home."

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Working as head chef at Gunnedah's The Courthouse, he says he is one of the lucky ones.

The Courthouse is eligible for the JobKeeper payments, and owner Rob Broomham has kept his staff on, adapting the business to make sure they still have work.

"We have them cleaning the hotel, working shifts through the day, opening at night for the food," Mr Broomham explained.

"Nearly all of our staff are young, living week by week, and they needed money.

"We won't get that money for a while, but it's our responsibility to keep them going so they can live."

Food delivery and pick up was only a very minor part of the business, but is now the only service the hotel can provide.

And as head chef, food is Mr Weerasinghe's specialty.

Mr Broomham hopes the government will change the rules to allow visa holders to receive supplementary payments, but he said he will "wear the costs" regardless.

"We can't see him on the streets ... Australia is where he is making his life."

Giving the new arrivals a chance they've hoped and worked for, it's clear their blossoming love for the town is growing.

"I hadn't been in Australia before, so I chose Gunnedah in NSW, especially this Australian town, because it has pure Australian culture," he explained.

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"The kids they like the school very much, Mr B is one of the best principals. We once had a little bit doubt when kids go to school ... [now] my kids love more than anything the school."

But what he loves most is the sense of familiarity everyone shares with each other, no matter what or who they are.

"Gunnedah is a small town, everybody knows each other, neighbours chat at Woolies, at shops, they know each other very well. It's small, but it is now home."

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