Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

He squibbed it, absolutely squibbed it. Then there is also the member for Maribyrnong, the Leader of the Opposition, who said, 'I think it's reasonable to look for English proficiency and reasonable to have some qualifying time period before becoming an Australian citizen.' Well, they seem to be singing from a different hymnbook today.

So I think it's appropriate that the changes that the government has made in this legislation should be supported, and it is most disappointing that we are seeing the members opposite flip-flopping on this. We had the member for Watson, when he was in opposition previously, saying how important it was to have strong English language requirements. He was saying how important it was to declare to respect our laws and way of life. That is what he was saying previously, but he seems to have changed his tune.

This is important legislation. It is legislation that should be supported by this House. It is disappointing to see the Labor Party once again pandering to the Left, failing to support what is good legislation, what is good policy, what is good practice, to ensure that Australian citizenship remains as a privilege for those who respect our Australian way of life, who are willing to integrate into this country, who respect our values and who will contribute strongly to this nation. I commend this legislation to the House.

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