Australian Govt. changes citizenship test and English language program for migrants
In a major policy impacting migrants in Australia, Immigration Minister Alan Tudge has announced that Australia will be updating the citizenship test with a strong focus on Australian values to boost the social cohesion.
Flagging the changes in an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Friday, Minister Tudge said new questions “on Australian values” will be included in the citizenship tests.
“Australian citizenship is both a privilege and a responsibility, and it should be granted to those who support our values, respect our laws, and want to contribute to Australia’s future,” he said.
Immigration Minister Alan Tudge has also announced changes to English language program for migrants. The government will include new questions focusing on Australian values in the citizenship tests.
The change is part of the Morrison government’s campaign to articulate national identity and to promote and safeguard Australia’s multicultural success, which the minister said was on full display during the recent bushfires and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, where the multicultural communities stood up to support fellow Australians.
Minister Tudge particularly recognized the efforts of the volunteers of the Sikh community who provided free meals to over 3,000 residents of the nine public housing estates in north Melbourne that were forced into “hard lockdown” amid a COVID-19 outbreak in July earlier this year.
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“When you see Buddhist monks providing free massages to weary fire-fighters, Muslim builders putting on barbeques for bushfire survivors, Irish truck drivers delivering hundreds of thousands of litres of water, and Sikhs cooking and delivering curries to Melbourne’s public housing estates during the COVID-19 lockdown, you know we have something special in this nation,” said Minister Tudge.
A record number of people – over 200,000 pledged their allegiance to Australia in 2019-20, of which a majority were from India.
-PTC News
