Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s call to review Australia’s citizenship test has been backed by the country’s primary immigration site, Migration Alliance.
Last week the minister told various media outlets that the test should move away from its current focus on Australian trivia to have more of a focus on determining whether future citizens can demonstrate sharing societal principles that have made Australia the success that it is.
“Minister Dutton is proposing that the Australian government should take a low-cost, sensible and precautionary step to help ensure that the people who are allowed to take up citizenship in our so-far safe, free and egalitarian nation genuinely share the values of the vast majority,” said Migration Alliance founder Liana Allan.
“The minister has made the point that in many cases, particularly when people are coming from the Middle East, country of origin records are unreliable and we must rely on the word of the individual. That means we must be more careful about our questioning, and we certainly should demand a higher level of evidence to support people’s assertions about their behaviour.”
To ensure that those being granted citizenship are not past, present or future lawbreakers and “a drain on the public purse”, the Alliance believes the government should have the right to do whatever is in its power.
While as much evidence as possible should be sought prior to the person’s arrival, Ms Liana said there is no acceptable excuse for not pursuing the matter even after applicants begin living in Australia.
“Changing our citizenship test, as Dutton suggests, would threaten only those who it seeks to identify: people who want to come here with a view to damaging or exploiting Australia’s way of life,” Ms Allan added.
“It is, just like the Abbott government’s prosecution of the highly-successful Operation Sovereign Borders, simply a modern echo of former prime minister John Howard’s 2001 assertion that Australia should decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.
“That’s the right approach, and one which should have the backing of both sides of parliament.”