Australian opposition leader urges more English testing for citizenship

The leader of the Australian opposition party had urged the introduction of a series of English proficiency tests for migrants applying for citizenship.

Scott Morrison gave his opinion as part of a speech on ‘Reasons to be optimistic over Australia’s immigration future’. His stance is that the country is best served by forcing applicants for citizenship to take follow-up examinations at several stages during the process to ensure their English language has improved since their visas were granted.

The barriers, he added, should be placed as temporary entrance tests, more stringent testing for permanent residence applicants and fluency for citizenship applicants. He insisted his statements were simply observations at present, and refused to put a deadline on his ideas, stating that he saw English and economic participation as an essential part of immigration programmes.

Describing the country as the most cohesive and multinational society on the planet, Morrison called for more integration within the community at large. He said he agreed with all the policies of the past three decades as their purpose was to encourage people to find a middle ground not affected by cultural, religious or language differences.

Displaying a hard line on asylum seekers, he said that asylum vessels leaving from ports in Indonesia with illegal migrants on board should be turned back without Indonesia’s agreement. The statement was made a day after four more deaths were reported when a boat carrying asylum seekers foundered and sank off the Indonesian coastline.