Kevin Hogan (Page, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Requirements for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures) Bill 2017. One of the primary roles of government is to provide a safe and secure country for our citizens. Citizenship is a privilege. It comes with responsibilities. You need to share our values. You need to celebrate our freedoms. You need to appreciate our way of life. And, if you don't, you are not welcome.

I'd like to go into what some of these values are, because they are described in the legislation. This bill is not, as the previous speaker said, about demeaning multicultural societies. This bill is about strengthening our multicultural society. We are a successful multicultural society—one of the best in the world. We all want to maintain that, and we want to celebrate people coming from everywhere to our country, but to do that successfully we have to have guidelines and values that are understood by every citizen in this country. I want to list them as they're listed in the legislation.

The first one is respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual. You might say, 'Of course,' but that isn't how all people think. When you look at the many battles, wars and disputes around the world, not all people think individual have a right to freedom and dignity. The second value is very important as well: freedom of religion. We are okay with anyone coming here and celebrating and practising the religion that they feel is right for them. But do not be fooled: there are many people, including some in this country, who believe that our country should follow the religion that they do and do not recognise the validity of other religions. That is not okay for a successful democracy either. Then there is commitment to the rule of law. We all have to adhere—even though we might not agree with it—to the very distinct separation of church and state in our country which contributes to the fabric of our very successful multicultural society. Every citizen in this country has to respect that we have laws administered by the state which may be different from the rules and laws of your own churches. Parliamentary democracy is one of the foundations of our successful multicultural society which we need everyone to respect. Equality of men and women is one of the foundations of the success of our nation, as is equality of opportunity for individuals regardless of their race, religion or ethnic background. Having English as our national language is an important unifying element of Australian society, and in the legislation there are parameters around that.

Applicants will need to demonstrate—which is obviously why there is a qualifying period—their integration into the Australian community in accordance with the values I have just spoken about. To do this, they would have to demonstrate that they have abided by our laws, are competent in the English language, are sending their children to school, are seeking employment when there is a capacity to do so—rather than relying on welfare—and are involved in wider community groups. One of the wonderfully unifying things about our country—and I would like to acknowledge this because it is a very important part of the fabric of our community—is the role that public education has played in our community. Public education has meant that people from all races and all walks of life have played in school grounds together and have been in classrooms together. This has been very important for first-generation Australians, and indeed second-generation Australians, as they assimilate into our country.

The measures contained in this bill will help us build on our success as a multicultural society. It will make sure that we are committed to both welcoming new Australians and making sure they make a positive contribution through the many opportunities that our country affords. We as a government are committed to maintaining strong public confidence and support for our migration and citizenship programs. We are proud of our heritage and our generosity as a nation. We look forward to welcoming new migrants—irrespective of race, religion, nationality or ethnic origin—who are prepared to embrace our Australian laws and values and seek to contribute to them. The Australian community expects that aspiring citizens will demonstrate their allegiance to our country, their commitment to live in accordance with our laws and their willingness to integrate into and become contributing members of our community.

In accordance with the announced measures, there will be an increase in the general residence requirement. An applicant for Australian citizenship will need to demonstrate a minimum of four years of permanent residence immediately prior to their application for citizenship, with a maximum of 12 months outside Australia over that period of time. This represents a change from the current requirement of a minimum of 12 months as a permanent resident. Strengthening this residency requirement is intended to support integration and facilitate a more thorough evaluation of a person's commitment to Australia, our values and adherence to our laws. It also brings Australia—I have some comparisons here that I will not go through now—much more in line with the general requirements of other nations. What we are proposing in this legislation is very similar to many other countries throughout the world.

The national consultation found:

A residence requirement in citizenship law is an objective measure of a person’s association with Australia. It also serves as a probationary period, so that a person’s word and deeds across this time can be considered should the person apply for Australian citizenship. Increasing the value and integrity of citizenship by changing the residence requirement from four years lawful stay to four years permanent residence is appropriate, …

Much has been said about the English language parameters. The English language is essential for economic participation and social cohesion. In 2016 the Productivity Commission highlighted the importance of English-language proficiency for integration and settlement outcomes. There is also strong public support to ensure aspiring citizens are fully able to participate in Australian life by speaking English, our national language. Obviously—it goes without saying—this will very much break down any isolation a person would have if they were not able to speak the English language.

Aspiring citizens are currently required to possess basic English. This is indirectly assessed when an applicant sits the citizenship test. Aspiring citizens will now be required to undertake a separate, upfront English-language test with an accredited provider and achieve a level of 'competent'. There will be exceptions for applicants, such as for applicants over 60 years of age or under 16 years of age at the time they apply for citizenship, or for those with an enduring or permanent mental or physical incapacity. There will be other exemptions from testing, such as are currently the case for skilled migration assessments and for those applicants who have undertaken specified English-language studies at a recognised Australian education institution.

They will be required to sign an Australian values statement in order to make an application for citizenship. Applicants will be required to make an undertaking to integrate into and to contribute to the Australian community and, as I listed before, its values and the demonstration of those values. The bill provides that the minister may determine changes to the text and requirements in relation the Australian value statement by legislative instrument. The values base will also be added to the citizenship test.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will assess the information based on documents provided as part of an aspiring citizen's application, and may also asses this at interview. In addition to existing police checks which are undertaken as part of an application for citizenship, an application will also be assessed for specified conduct that is inconsistent with Australian values, such as domestic or family violence, criminality and any involvement in gangs or organised crime.

The pledge will be extended to all streams of citizenship by application, including citizenship by descent, adoption and resumption. Applicants over 16 years of age will need to make the pledge before they can become a citizen. Applicants for citizenship by conferral on the grounds of being born to a former citizen or under stateless provisions will no longer be exempt from making the pledge. Exemptions will include permanent or enduring physical or mental incapacity. It will also refer to allegiance to Australia. The government has passed legislation separately to provide for the loss of citizenship for dual nationals who betray their allegiance through involvement in terrorist related activity.

Consistent with measures introduced in the last parliament, the bill contains additional measures to improve the integrity of the citizenship program. Currently, only aspiring citizens aged 18 years and over are required to meet the good character requirement, which involves criminal history checks. There is a small minority of people under 18 who clearly do not meet community expectations of good character and who have been involved in serious or violent crimes, such as gang violence. The bill amends these provisions to require all applicants, including those under 18, to be of good character. The bill also amendments the offence provisions to reflect modern sentencing practices, including where a person is subject to a court order, or for home detention or where they have not been sentenced to prison but are nonetheless under obligations to a court.

The bill provides that approval must be cancelled if the minister is no longer satisfied of the applicant's identity or they have become a risk to national security. The minister may also cancel approval if satisfied that the person no longer meets other eligibility requirements: The bill extends the maximum period of time when the minister can delay an applicant making a pledge of allegiance from 12 months to two years to better align with time frames for some complex investigations.

The bill provides for the revocation of citizenship where a person became a citizen as a result of fraud or misrepresentation. The minister must be satisfied that it would be contrary to the public interest for the person to remain a citizen, while law enforcement agencies, for a range of reasons, may not be in a position to prosecute all forms of fraud and misrepresentation of the citizenship process. The government is committed to providing the highest levels of integrity where possible. Each person being considered for revocation of their Australian citizenship would be given natural justice before the minister makes a decision. The decision to revoke citizenship on these grounds would of course be open to judicial review.

The act provides that a person is deemed never to have been an Australian citizen where they attained citizenship by descent but were later found not have had an Australian parent at the time of birth. There have been difficult cases in recent times in relation to this. There have been people who are registered as Australian citizens by descent and thought all their lives that they were Australian but found later in life they were not eligible in the first place and consequently were deemed never to have been a citizen. The proposed amendments repeal the operational law provision and insert a discretionary power. This will allow the circumstances of a particular case to be taken into account when deciding if citizenship by descent should be revoked.

Children acquire citizenship automatically under the current act if they are born in Australia to an Australian citizen or permanent resident parent or if they are ordinarily a resident in Australia until their 10th birthday. The bill specifies that automatic acquisition of citizenship on a person's 10th birthday applies to those persons who have maintained lawful residence in Australia throughout the 10 years, including maintaining the right to return if they travel outside Australia during those years. These amendments will not affect access to citizenship for children born in Australia to New Zealand citizens or for children who are stateless. The changes also remove the automatic acquisition of citizenship on the 10th birthday of a child born to a parent with diplomatic or consular privileges and immunities.

The provision of citizenship for children found abandoned in Australia is also amended to be consistent with the original policy intent, which is to reflect the international obligations under the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. It also amends the definitions of 'spouse' and 'de facto partner' to be consistent with the Migration Act and to reflect the policy position that the relationship between the applicant and the Australian citizen spouse or partner must be continuing.

In summary, I commend this bill to the House.

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