Mrs HULL (10:31 AM) —I rise today to support the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Testing) Bill 2007. The key provisions of this bill will amend section 21 of the act so that applicants for citizenship under the general eligibility provision must have successfully completed a test before making an application for Australian citizenship. In standing to support this bill, I would like to make mention of the fact that it is very important to emphasise that this is not a test for settlement; it is not a test precluding people from coming to Australia. People can still be permanent residents. They can stay with that status for the term of their existence in Australia. But, if they want to progress further and become a citizen of Australia, they will have to undertake this citizenship test.

I have thought long and hard about this, because I too have an electorate which has welcomed people from many nations from across the world. All of these people have contributed in some way, shape or form to the Riverina blossoming into the very productive area that it is now. Many of the people who came and worked on the Snowy were displaced during the European war. They came out to Australia, worked on the Snowy and then made their way down to the Riverina. They increased productivity and exposed our culture to entirely new tastes and experiences, and we have been far the greater for having had those experiences. I thought very seriously about whether or not this would be a major impediment to people who want to come and set up their life in the Riverina. So I talked to a lot of Italian people who had come in. At first, it was a bit daunting and a bit scary for them, because they thought that this meant that people would not be able to settle in Australia. It was explained that this would not stop people from settling in Australia but would be a citizenship test and, if they wanted to take out Australian citizenship, they would have tools made available to assist them, including a booklet. It was explained that it was not an English language test or a test on how you speak English but a test of an applicant’s understanding of the history of Australia and of the values that should be in every person’s mind when they seek to declare themselves to be an Australian citizen.

I went to a small school just a few months ago and they made the Australian pledge, and they do it at every assembly. What a fantastic idea. These children knew the Australian pledge off by heart. That is something that we could expand further in our education programs in order to enhance the feeling of pride and passion in being an Australian citizen.

When I went through these issues with some of the Italian elder community, many of them said to me, ‘Gee, we wish that we’d had this available to us and that we’d been assisted in learning these things when we came to Australia, because our lives would have been much more inclusive of the Australian way of life and we would not have at times felt excluded because of our lack of understanding of the Australian way.’ There is no doubt that sometimes the Australian way is very different to the culture that people have travelled from. I have in my life five beautiful children from Ethiopia. My children have now been here for four years—in fact, it is four years today since they arrived in Australia. I have found that their commitment and dedication and the effort that they have made to ensure that they are able to participate fully in education has been fantastic. My children are getting older and they have no foundation of education from their grassroots in Ethiopia. But they have a great will to learn in Australia. They have come from an almost impossible situation, but they are doing very well and their English is fantastic.

My children are being confronted with understanding life and its meaning. I am sure my five-year-old will rule the world one day because he has been learning in pre-school from the day that he came to Australia. He is very established in Australian ethos, ethics and the way in which he insists on all English being spoken at home because he is an Australian. It becomes quite jovial in our household. But, at the same time, I know this will better prepare these people—not so much the English speaking—to go forward and understand the ways and the life of the Australian community. My children feel very strongly about this; they want to learn.

I know that many people have come to live in Australia to seek greater opportunity. It is the opportunity that we want to offer, but one of the responsibilities is to ensure that we, as Australian people and citizens, make the most of what our country has to offer new arrivals, to enable them to have a sense of true belonging and involvement in our community. This is what I believe the citizenship test will ultimately achieve. Yes, it will be daunting in the first stages but you can sit the test again if you do not pass. If you are under the age of 18 or over 60, or if you have a permanent physical or mental incapacity which would prevent you from understanding the nature of an application, you would not be required to sit this test. But it will encourage our prospective citizens to obtain the knowledge that they will require to support their successful integration into Australian society.

We have just had an exhibition in Wagga Wagga called From All Four Corners. I launched that exhibition some weeks ago. It was one of the most difficult exhibitions for me to launch. When I went through all of the components and exhibits of that exhibition it was heart-warming to see what many of these people, who I knew intensely closely, had achieved. I had not recognised the difficulties that they had to overcome. One of the families exhibited green hot-water bottles in a glass cabinet. We used to put hot-water bottles in our beds before the advent of electric blankets.

Mr Georgiou —And still do.

Mrs HULL —Yes, some people still do. But the hot-water bottle was significant. The family concerned had settled into San Isador, a community in Wagga Wagga. They had been extremely persecuted in their homeland. They arrived in Wagga Wagga when it was freezing cold. Temperatures in Wagga Wagga go into minuses. The night they arrived they were very cold in their house. The next day the neighbour said to the elder of the family, ‘How are you enjoying it? Are you settling in all right?’ He said, ‘It is very cold here. Last night we were freezing.’ At 9 o’clock that night there was a knock on the door. It was very dark outside; there is no street lighting in San Isador. They were terrified because of the experiences in their country. ‘Who would be knocking on our door at 9 o’clock at night? We know nobody.’ They had to be convinced to open the door by their neighbour cajoling them and saying, ‘We are the neighbours from next door. We are not here to harm you or create problems.’ They opened the door and the neighbour had hot-water bottles for their beds. The man, who is in his 70s, cried because he had never experienced kindness like this in his life.

This man and his wife were at the exhibition. When he was explaining his memory of the first night and of the Australian people and the way in which they included him in their lives he cried again; he has lasting memories. This family and many others explained to the gathered crowd at the exhibition just how wonderfully supported they had been while integrating into the Australian community. If they had not been given that very significant support, they would not have understood the difference in the Australian way of life and the Australian ethos. They have all indicated that they required that support.

I spoke to many of these people that evening, explaining how the citizenship test would work—that it was not something that should fill them with fear—and asking them to give me an honest appraisal and without exception they all indicated that this was what they believe should take place in Australia. They did not see it as discrimination or as somebody trying to put roadblocks in their way or pressure upon them to forget their past and only embrace a future. They saw it as a true and genuine effort to ensure that we were not just going to assume that people arriving in our country were equipped and able to prepare themselves for the very big differences in the way in which Australians think and act. I am not privy to the questions that will be asked but I am sure that they will encompass some history and some basic facts about Australia. By knowing that, they feel more able to consolidate their relationship.

I believe that the government in its wisdom has a plan that is going to provide people many opportunities that are currently being lost. They are lost through no fault of the Australian public and through no fault of the people who are coming into Australia; they are lost because there is a crack, and people are just expected to understand without being given the appropriate tools and learning guides to assist them. You might think that when somebody settles in Australia they would know everything. I just took for granted that my children would know the simple things—my girls are well into their teens and my eldest boy was 14 when he came; he will be 18 in September—about everyday shopping and living. They are things that we take for granted. I was so staggeringly surprised when I took the time to sit down with them and I realised that they were in a maze of confusion about going to a supermarket and getting themselves prepared for personal hygiene and a whole host of different things, because in their country it was totally different. Nobody had taught them. I have learned a lot from that and I do not take anything for granted anymore.

I refer back to when we had submissions on the citizenship test. I called for submissions from my electorate, because I knew that they would feel strongly about this—and they did. About 1,600 responses came back to the minister on the discussion paper that was released in September 2006 that sought community views on the merits of introducing a formal citizenship test. It was interesting to note that 60 per cent of respondents supported the introduction of the citizenship test. That means that 40 per cent did not, but 60 per cent saw merit and value and I would suspect that many of that 60 per cent, like the people who had spoken to me, were people who had come from other countries, had experienced difficulties and wanted a clear understanding of some parts of Australian history so that they could feel that they were in the truest sense accepted and welcomed.

I do understand that many people have confusion—I certainly have seen it in my communities. There has been an enormous contribution from arrivals from other countries into my electorate. Many of them have done that without being able to speak English and are still unable to speak English—and many have been here for 50 years. I find that there are still some concerns about this issue, but can I reiterate that this is not about English language. There will be assistance made available with people reading this list of questions and assisting applicants through this. This is not a test of English language. I want to explain to the community at large that I do not believe there is anything to fear from this test. I believe that, in the true sense of being Australian and in the true sense of Australians assisting new arrivals into this country, Australians will again step forward and help with going through this booklet and advising and assisting.

I made mention of my children. They have had no underpinning education, yet they are able to traverse the internet and they are now out there and active. One of my girls is working in a nursing home. My second daughter has found herself part-time employment. She has done her own CV and applications for work. My third son is now studying for the HSC. How difficult it must be for him competing for the HSC, having started his education from year 10. They are understanding the written word and are able to put things together. I believe that the capacity is there for our new arrivals into Australia to embrace this test if they want to be an Australian citizen and also for it to be more inclusive rather than exclusive. I take this opportunity to commend the minister for this opportunity for all Australians.