Kerry Nettle (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I have two other general questions that I want to ask the Minister for Human Services. A number of migrant groups in the community are fearful that the introduction of a citizenship test will deter some people from making an application to become a citizen. We can only speculate why somebody may be deterred. Perhaps they do not have the same educational background as people in here and the thought of having to do a test is intimidating. When they see the level of detail in the draft booklet, that may turn them off, but without wanting to speculate on what all those reasons may be, without being able to state categorically the things that would deter each particular individual from applying to become a citizen, I did want to ask the government whether it shared that concern a number of migrant groups have raised. I also raised this concern upon hearing it from migrant communities. None of us wants anyone to be deterred from making an application to become an Australian citizen. So I just ask the government whether it shares any of those concerns that the migrant groups have raised about this citizenship test.