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<h1 class="gmail-title" id="gmail-page-title">Australian Citizenship: Migrants to face tougher English language test </h1>
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After Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton's speech in February,
Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge has said the government will seek to
expand English-language tests for migrants. </div>
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Mosiqi Acharya</div> <br>
<div class="gmail-last-updated gmail-not-recently-updated" title="UPDATED 7 Mar 2018 - 12:39 PM"><span class="gmail-content-created">7 Mar 2018 - 12:14 PM</span> UPDATED YESTERDAY 12:39 PM</div></div>
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<p>The federal government is keen to introduce English test for
migrants to become eligible for acquiring Australian citizenship
and Citizenship Minister Alan Tudge <span>has flagged the idea of toughening English-language tests on Wednesday.</span></p>
<p>Mr Tudge, who took over the citizenship portfolio in December’s
ministerial reshuffle, has said Australia’s multiculturalism model is at
risk unless significant policy intervention addresses the issue of
lower integration rates and falling English-language skills, <a style="font-size:13.008px" href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/alan-tudge-puts-english-tests-for-migrants-back-in-frame/news-story/0cd4ade4c9c4ddeabdf5edce42db4ab1" class="gmail-omniture-processed">The Australian</a> reports. </p>
<p>Mr Tudge says current policy settings are no longer adequate, amid emerging ethnic enclaves and falling rates of spoken English.</p>
<p>Mr Tudge is scheduled to deliver a keynote address tonight at the
Menzies Research Centre in Sydney, the minister’s speech on Making
Integration Work calls for frank reassessment of the responsibility to
integrate.</p>
<p>“Australia is the most successful multicultural country in the
world,” he says in a written speech to be delivered tonight to the
Menzies Research Centre in Sydney.</p>
<p>“But I want to sound a note of caution: Australian multiculturalism is not God-given and cannot be taken for granted.</p>
<p>“Indeed, there is emerging evidence that we are not integrating as
well as what we have done in the past. Moreover, there are external
factors that weren’t present even a decade ago that make integration
more challenging.”</p>
<p>“Our current policies do not address the challenges outlined above.
In fact, there are very few formal requirements that encourage
integration, adoption of Australian values and English proficiency.”</p>
<p>“This is particularly the case where the concentration of overseas
born in particular suburbs is aligned with a considerable absence of
English being spoken or understood,” Mr Tudge said.</p>
<p>“Poorer English (also) means that the prospect of getting a good job is diminished.”</p>
<p>He says that recent research shows migrants who spoke English very
well were 3.7 times more likely to be employed in 18 months after
arrival than those who had poor English.</p>
<p></p><div height="394" width="700" alt="Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton" title="Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)" class="gmail-media-element gmail-file-body-content" src="https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/sites/sbs.com.au.yourlanguage/files/styles/body_image/public/podcast_images/home_affairs_minister_peter_dutton_criticises_tony_abbotts_call_for_cuts_aap_704_1.jpg?itok=yel746We&mtime=1520387777"><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><img alt="Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton" title="Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)" src="https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/sites/sbs.com.au.yourlanguage/files/styles/body_image/public/podcast_images/home_affairs_minister_peter_dutton_criticises_tony_abbotts_call_for_cuts_aap_704_1.jpg?itok=yel746We&mtime=1520387777"></div><div style="display:none" class="gmail-image-caption"><p>Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas) </p></div>
<p>Mr Tudge’s major statement comes just days after Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in a speech at the <a href="http://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/peterdutton/Pages/Address-to-the-National-Press-Club-of-Australia.aspx" class="gmail-omniture-processed">National Press Club</a> said the government was committed to reinforce the importance of English language in the steps to acquire citizenship.</p>
<p>“I can assure you that the Government remains committed to this
reform, and will work with the crossbench on the basis of a new package
of measures, flagged at the end of last year,” he said.</p>
<p>After the changes to the Citizenship Bill were struck down in October
last year, Mr Dutton reduced the difficulty of the English test – from
Band 6 to Band 5 under the international standard – to secure the
support of the Senate.</p>
<h3>Government’s citizenship changes basically White Australia Policy 2.0: GetUp</h3>
<p>GetUp has called these renewed effort to change Citizenship requirements as “White Australia Policy 2.0”.</p>
<p>The organisation actively campaigned against the changes to Citizenship Act last year and has vowed to oppose it again.</p>
<p></p><div height="464" width="700" alt="Shen Get Up" class="gmail-media-element gmail-file-body-content" src="https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/sites/sbs.com.au.yourlanguage/files/styles/body_image/public/shen_headshot.jpg?itok=ywdN-_xW&mtime=1520387595"><div></div><div></div><div></div><div></div><img alt="Shen Get Up" src="https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/sites/sbs.com.au.yourlanguage/files/styles/body_image/public/shen_headshot.jpg?itok=ywdN-_xW&mtime=1520387595"></div>
<p>GetUp Human Rights director Shen Narayanasamy said, “Generations of
non-English speaking migrants have helped build our community. Having a
university standard level of English never was, and never should be, an
indicator of worth in this country.”</p>
<p>“As crucial cross-bench Senator Stirling Griff stated last time,
these changes are just ‘formenting hate’. Numerous experts gave evidence
at the Senate Enquiry to demonstrate that these changes
disproportionately impacted migrant women, and created an underclass in
our community of people who live, work and pay taxes here for most of
their life - but will be denied citizenship because of their grammar,”
Ms Narayanasamy said.</p>
<p>“Tens of thousands of Australians signed petitions and lobbied our
Senators to stop these changes in their tracks and succeeded. If our
Government will not protect Australia’s diversity, there is no doubt
that the Senate, and our community will do it again.”</p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
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