Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister advise the House on the importance of updating our citizenship laws so that they reflect Australian values, including in my electorate of Durack?

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for her question. She knows, as all honourable members should know, that our Australian values are what define us.

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I hear scorn from the opposition. You would think, amidst all of their calls for bipartisanship, that we could at least be united on a commitment to standing for Australian values and calling on those who seek to acquire the most important office in our country, Australian citizenship, to make a commitment to our Australian values.

Opposition members interjecting—

And we get sneers from the opposition. Well, it was not so long ago that the member for Watson felt that not only should people who seek to become Australian citizens make a commitment to respecting Australian values but also people who seek to have a visa to come to Australia should make that commitment. The member for Watson, who denounces our citizenship law changes now, said in 2006 that it was just snobbery. In 2006, he said:

Surely, we should ask all those who enter Australia—

not just those who seek to become citizens—

to make some sort of formal commitment to respect the democracy they are about to enter …

He goes on. He waxes eloquent. You would think I had picked this up out of one of Peter Dutton's or my speeches. He said:

We should not be afraid to tell the rest of the world we're proud of the nation we built and we want everyone who lives here, even if only for a short time, to respect the place and obey our laws.

That is what he was saying then. Now he says it is snobbery to ask people to respect our values. Another aspect of the alleged snobbery is requiring people who want to become citizens to have competent English. Now he says that is snobbery too. Back in 2006, he criticised the Howard government. The member for Watson said:

We need stricter English speaking requirements for people wanting to work in Australia.

'Politicians aren't paid to watch the world,' said the young member for Watson, 'We're meant to see the problems and fix them.' (Time expired)