Citizenship crackdown in danger after Labor rejects ‘snobby’ rules

Becoming an Australia citizen is, and should be, a big deal, but is it snobby to ask a wannabe Aussie to speak English to a university standard in order to do so?

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s proposed changes to the Australian citizenship test would make it harder for migrants to settle here, in part because it toughens the English-language test that potential citizens must take and requires that applicants answer questions about ‘Australian values’.

The matter was broached on Q&A last night, with one audience member lashing out at a Labor MP’s comments that the stricter requirements were “stoking xenophobia”.

“What is xenophobic about ensuring that new Australians are loyal to the country?” the man asked. 

One of Turnbull’s proposed changes involves migrants learning English to a level comparable with that of Australian university students.

Labor MP Linda Burney pointed out that AMES Australia – the organisation that helps many refugees and migrants settle here – only teaches to a Level 4 in English. The standard would be increased to a Level 6 in the new test, making it even more difficult for newcomers to learn sufficient English to gain their citizenship.

“Is that really fair for people who are escaping terrible situations to be able to only get citizenship if they have that level 6 when AMES only teaches to level 4?” Burney wanted to know.

What is xenophobic about ensuring that new Australians are loyal to the country? @LindaBurneyMP & @rachelbotsman respond #QandA pic.twitter.com/1ZF1Q2dwKv

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) June 19, 2017

Panelist Rachel Botsman is a British author who is currently preparing to sit her own Australian citizenship test. She spoke out on Q&A against the language requirements.

“I come from a family of immigrants,” Botsman said. “I don’t think they could speak the language when they fled and they still made a positive contribution to society.”

Botsman also suggested that certain parts of the preparation booklet be removed because they were irrelevant.

While not part of the tested information, the Our Common Bond booklet supplied to citizenship applicants does come complete with information about Donald Bradman, Judith Wright, the Melbourne Cup, and the country’s most prominent modern celebrities.

Liberal Senator James Paterson agreed that the Don’s batting average was “not actually a useful thing to study”. Paterson was more focused on screening for values and ensuring that all migrants understand the concept of freedom of speech and freedom of religion, and that domestic violence was not acceptable.

We’ve always screened migrants for skills but never for values, says @SenPaterson. Jane Goodall says migrants need to contribute #QandA pic.twitter.com/DrYekNQ0Nm

— ABC Q&A (@QandA) June 19, 2017

“I don’t disagree with that,” Burney said. “I’m just saying I wonder who’s determining what the values are.”

“You and I are, Linda,” Paterson reminded her. “We’ll be voting on it in the parliament and if you’re not happy with it, you can vote against it.”

Today’s vote to change the Australian citizenship test was unanimously blocked by Labor politicians. Labor leader Bill Shorten had originally promised in principle to support the legislation but after the vote Labor’s citizenship spokesman Tony Burke said that the language requirements were a “bizarre act of snobbery”. 

In fact, many people born in Australia would fail to meet the requirement to pass a university-level English test, Burke said, according to a report in The Australian.

He also criticised the requirement that potential citizens wait four years before being able to apply for citizenship, rather than the current one-year wait. Burke pointed out that the people taking the test were already living in Australia, so officials would’ve had several years to assess their contribution to society, the AFR said.

But Turnbull accused Shorten and his party of failing to value Australian citizenship.

“The Labor Party does not value Australian citizenship enough to say, as we do, that it must be more than simply the outcome of an administrative tick and flick form-filling process,” he said, The Australian reported.

Labor has now referred the bill to a Senate crossbench inquiry, which may make changes to the proposed rules.

What do you think migrants should be tested on when becoming Australian citizens?