Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm sure that everyone in this place and the other place would agree that attending citizenship ceremonies in your electorate is one of the most fulfilling parts of being a parliamentarian. And one of the most special times of year to do this, of course, is on Australia Day. I attended three separate ceremonies on Australia Day, convened by the cities of Mitcham, Marion and Onkaparinga, and I have attended many more since. I was particularly delighted to be there when my wonderful next door neighbour, a young South African family of four, became citizens earlier this year. They make a wonderful contribution to our sporting community in South Australia. As I can personally attest, they are lovely, community-minded people who help to make our nation a better place.

When I am at citizenship ceremonies, I like to take the opportunity to encourage people to think about their contribution to our nation when they formally become citizens. I see it as a chance for people to reflect on what they might do for Australia—to have a fresh start, in a sense, and reassess what they are doing for our nation—and to celebrate the wonderful achievement that is Australian citizenship. This can take many forms—from simply exercising their democratic right to vote at local, state and federal government elections through to working harder than ever to serve our community by, for example, volunteering, which helps to keep our nation great and enhance our social fabric.

As we say in our national anthem:

For those who've come across the seas

We've boundless plains to share …

However, it is a great privilege to be granted Australian citizenship and it is, therefore, right that we ensure that those seeking citizenship believe in and uphold our values. Australian citizenship bestows great privileges and is a common bond uniting us all, whether we are born here or have migrated to Australia. That common bond comes with a commitment to our country and to our people. Membership to our diverse Australian family should be granted to those who support our values, respect our laws and work hard by integrating and contributing to make Australia an even better nation.

I want to share one wonderful migrant's story. One of my constituents, a lady who is now in her 80s, came here post-World War II, when she was in her teens. Her family were fleeing Europe after the war. They were sent to remote Western Australia, where their job was to clean the local pub. She spoke to me about it at length, and it sounded like it was a pretty challenging existence. It would have been an enormous culture shock for her and her family. She was not afforded the opportunity for further education that she had expected she would undertake in pre-war Europe. Despite this, she could not have been more proud to be an Australian. She held no grudges that her life hadn't turned out in the manner in which she might have expected it would have if she'd remained in Europe and if the war hadn't occurred. She was just so grateful to live in such a peaceful, safe, democratic nation. She and her husband worked very hard, raised their kids and are still, in their late 80s and early 90s, volunteering for a range of organisations.

These are the sorts of reasons why we are one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world. We should all be very proud of that. We are an immigrant nation, and we invite over 130,000 people from over 210 countries each year to officially take part in our society that so many generations have worked tirelessly to build. As we know, we were all immigrants once. My maternal grandmother's family settled in South Australia in 1838, two years after its settlement. My paternal grandfather's family arrived two years later, in 1840. We have been in South Australia a long time. My other ancestors arrived in the late 1800s. Australia has welcomed millions of people since then in similar ways. In fact, since 1949 more than five million migrants have become part of our national story; they have contributed to and enriched our Australian life.

But it is a privilege to become an Australian citizen, and one which comes with a responsibility to our shared values that cannot and must not be taken lightly. This bill has been introduced to strengthen the institution of Australian citizenship. It is integral that a priority is placed on respect for Australian values and on demonstrating an ability and a willingness to integrate into our society. This is in the national interest and, critically, it's for the benefit of these aspiring citizens. Reinforcing the integrity of the institution of citizenship has been on the government's agenda for some time. In 2015, Minister Fierravanti-Wells and the Hon. Philip Ruddock launched a national consultation on citizenship. This bill reflects that good work and the community sentiment that it contained.

In our ever-changing and increasingly dangerous world, we must ensure our current hard-working Australians are kept safe and secure. This is one of the most fundamental roles that the federal government has. We also want to ensure that people are going to settle in and integrate well in our society when they come here and when they are granted citizenship. Currently the law requires a basic level of English; however, there is no mechanism for direct assessment. This improvement to the existing requirement is in line with the government's 2016 Productivity Commission report, which highlighted the importance of English language proficiency to integration for migrants to achieve settlement outcomes. The recent national consultation on citizenship also indicated strong support for these changes. It should come as no surprise that being able to speak the common tongue of a nation, our national language, is a crucial part of being a part of it. It's shameful these requirements have been overstated by the opposition, which claim that a university level of competency is required to pass. In typical Labor fashion, they are just trying to scare the community and put fear into people's minds. Perhaps it could be that the opposition, in fact, needs to brush up on their reading skills themselves and are confusing the academic and general streams of the international English language testing system. It is level 6 of the general stream that is required. That level focuses on basic survival skills in broad social and workplace contexts, which I do not think is unreasonable. Without that level, we are just setting up new migrants, new Australians, to fail or at least to have a really tough time integrating.

Of course, it is not surprising that Labor's mantra these days is to never let good policy get in the way of fear mongering and scaring the community. It is unfortunate because they have come a along way from where they were 10 years ago when the Manager of Opposition Business was quoted in the Daily Telegraph as saying, 'We need stricter English language requirements …' Back then, the member for Watson believed so firmly in what we are now doing that Prime Minister John Howard received a compliment from the senior Labor member who said his focus on the need for people living in Australia to try to learn English was spot-on.

Similarly, on the values test we are introducing, the Labor member for Watson lamented in 2006, 'Why is it that no-one is asked to commit to respecting Australian values and abiding by Australian laws?' Later, 'Anyone who has a problem signing that should not be allowed here.' It is no wonder why the member for Watson was in this place putting on quite a display this morning. We on this side, on the other hand, stand by our Australian values, and I support the Australian values statement, which requires applicants to make an undertaking to integrate into and contribute to the Australian community in accordance with Australian values.

Values based questions will also be added to the citizenship test. The current Australian values statement includes an understanding of these really important values: respect for the freedom and dignity of the individual; freedom of religion; commitment to the rule of law; parliamentary democracy; the equality of men and women; equal opportunity for individuals regardless of their race, religion or ethnic background; and English language as the national language and an important unifying element of Australian society. Labor have done a fair bit of backtracking based on their previous statements and the words that we have heard here today in the chamber. In fact, Labor have come a long way since April of this year, when the Leader of the Opposition said, 'I think it is reasonable to look for English language proficiency and I think it is reasonable to have some period of time before you become an Australian citizen.' It is unfortunate to see those opposite are pitted against the broader Australian community on these changes and, in fact, against the government as well. By contrast, the government's amendments will enhance and strengthen the fabric of Australian society. I look forward to continuing to welcome new Australian citizens into our national family with the knowledge that we are making that family tighter and more integrated than ever.

In summary, it is a great privilege to be granted Australian citizenship and it is, therefore, right that we ensure those seeking citizenship believe in and uphold our Australian values. If there is one fundamental role we have in this place, it is to keep our great nation the peaceful, respectful and free place that it is. It is our duty to keep Australians safe and secure. This bill will help make sure this is the case by ensuring that every single person we grant the great privilege of citizenship to believes in our Australian values.

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