Australia | Laws would make aspiring citizens pledge to share values

Aspiring Australian citizens will have to make a pledge to share Australian values under proposed new laws introduced to Parliament yesterday.

The law would give Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton power to write and revise an Australian Values Statement and it would reduce avenues to appeal his decisions on citizenship cases. The bill does not spell out what Australian values are and critics argue that getting Australians to agree on what values they share is difficult.

Dutton said citizenship laws had to be reinforced to maintain public support for immigration and the value of citizenship during an increasingly challenging security environment.

“The Australian community expects that aspiring citizens demonstrate their allegiance to our country and commitment to live in accordance with Australian laws and values and be willing to integrate into and become contributing members of the Australian community,” Dutton told Parliament.

Dutton said the values statement would cover respect for religious freedom and gender equality as well as commitment to the rule of law and Australia’s parliamentary democracy.

There would also be values-based questions included in a citizenship test.

The bill would also raise the bar on English-language skills for prospective citizens and extends the time that an applicant must be an Australian permanent resident from one to four years.

Kim Rubenstein, a professor in the College of Law and a Public Policy Fellow at the Australian National University, said aspects of the bill were draconian and exclusive, shifting the balance of citizenship in Australia and giving the government unprecedented power.

“One of the most fundamental Australian values is a commitment to the rule of law and Western democratic liberal principles, but this act really shows a lack of appreciation of these core Australian values,” said Rubenstein, author of “Australian Citizenship Law in Context.”

“By introducing this bill, they’re failing their own citizenship test, if Australian values are so fundamental,” she added.

Activist group GetUp! said the law would create an underclass of migrants prevented from attaining citizenship and from equality with the rest of society.

Australia introduced a formal citizenship test in 2007. Before then, a government official would informally question an applicant about his or her knowledge of a citizen’s responsibilities and privileges in an oral test. AP