Lidia Thorpe (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I, and on behalf of Senators Faruqi, McKim and Rice, move:

That the Senate agrees that:

(a) Australia is a multicultural, multilingual society in which hundreds of languages are spoken;

(b) at least 250 Indigenous languages were spoken on this continent long before colonisation, and many continue to be spoken today;

(c) the Australian citizenship booklet 'Our common bond' contains claims that English is Australia's national language, which have been repeated by the acting Immigration Minister in advocating for onerous new English language proficiency requirements for partner visa applicants and permanent resident sponsors; and

(d) Australia has no national language.