Roger Price (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

No, they are, really. They are so grateful to be here. Many of them do not initially understand the very basics of how to change a light bulb, operate the toilet or whatever, but they are very grateful to be here and, notwithstanding the fact that they are in an electorate with such high employment, they are very eager to get the skills and the ability to get the job. I would not say about that group of people that they are ungrateful.

In fact, I cannot think of any citizenship ceremony I have been to where at the ceremony or subsequently people have attacked Australia or Australian values. We do have some differences. I think the great privilege of being a federal member is that we are required as part of our job to get to know the different communities that are in our electorates and we tend to get a broader knowledge of them. We get an understanding of different religions. If we were just ordinary citizens, we might know our neighbours and we might know the people we work with or go to church with, but we would not know as wide a circle as we are privileged to know as members of parliament.

The shadow minister has moved a second reading amendment. I must say that I support it. We support extending the wait for citizenship to three years on the basis that this was an outcome of COAG, but we are not supporting extending it to four years. What is the reason we are not supporting it for four years? It is because the government has offered no explanation. It has not consulted with the Council of Australian Governments, COAG, on increasing it beyond the three years. It has offered no security reason for it. I also pointed out the situation that would apply to Nelson Mandela: because he was incarcerated not for five years but for 26 years, he could not become an Australian citizen. Of course there is the mostly rectified situation with the Maltese community—I am pleased to say that—but there are still some anomalies and we have pointed out in our second reading amendment that we hope that the government would pick up those anomalies and do a good job of tidying it all up.

I do not have a cultural cringe about being Australian; I am intensely proud of it. I think we have a fabulous country, but so do the people who come here. They think it is a fabulous country. They do not think we have a cultural cringe. They want to join us. They want to get in on the opportunity. I will conclude by saying that I strongly support the second reading amendment that we have moved, but we are not declining to give this bill a second reading.

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