Hmm. I don’t get it. Australia will simply hand me a driver’s license with basically no questions asked, but now they want me to take a test to prove I’m worthy of being a citizen? What’s more dangerous – driving or voting? I guess to a politician, the answer is the latter.
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Well you should do ok on the English language bit. 🙂
Are you speaking English? I think you
are speaking Amerikash. Now you must learn to speak Australiash. :->>
Jussi, who speak bad English.
I don’t think we’re the target, guys. Kiwis, yanks, brits, all OK. Brown people, asians, muslims, all need testing. That’s my prediction. That’s if it gets going at all.
Yeah, I know M-H. They’ll probably announce an Anglo-exemption or something. Reminds me of when I was applying for my visa in the first place. I was like, “What? I have to get a chest X-ray? Why would they think I had TB?” And then I went to the big immigration examination place and discovered I was the only non-Asian there. It helped to put the rest of the bureaucracy in context.
So, if I wanted to become a US citizen (ROFLMAO!) I wouldn’t have to do a test? TB? The US infection rate is higher than Australia’s, so nothing wrong with testing.
“Mr Robb said terrorism and the challenges of attracting skilled migrants as the population aged were making it even more important for newcomers to be successfully integrated into Australian society.”
Argh! Australia needs to be homogenised !?! It’s ok if you’re just a little bit different, but if your skin colour, language or culture are too different to ours you will need to be assimilated.
I see lots of references to “Australian Cultural Values”, but no definition. I suspect they’re really saying “You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.”
Carla, I never said giving a test was a bad idea. I know for a fact you have to do it in the U.S. as my grandmother had to take it when she was naturalized forty years ago. No need to be snide. I was just amused that they didn’t require one for a driver’s license.
And my point of bringing up my visa examination was that it was a horribly demoralizing, bureaucratic procedure, but that as an American I seemed to sail through it without much trouble. I know they say you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the Australian government was being so welcoming to people from less affluent (and Western) cultures. From this latest development, I’d say the answer is decidedly in the negative.
umm, I had to take a test. I mean, like it wasn’t hard or anything. Oh, yeah there are English requirements too (as a yank, I got full points.)
As for the TB testing – we had been living in the country for close to 3 months before we were tested. If we had been infected, it was too late.
and for driving I had to take FOUR tests – but that’s since changed…
I thought you guys had mentioned that you did, Rob. Do you think that means that they’re proposing making it harder or something?
For Driving: I had to take a written test for cars and one for motorbikes, plus a driving test and a riding test (4 tests in all) – the RTA has since relaxed this and us Americans can just walk in and get one.
For Australian residency there is a complex points system that rewards points for English – this can be outweighed by your skills or circumstances (as it should be – every case is different but if you have no skills and no family or friends in Australia you will need to know English.)
For Citizenship: there was (and still is) a series of questions about the “responsibilities and privileges of Australian Citizenship” – it is a verbal test that also “assess whether you can speak and understand basic English” – I’ve linked to the Citizenship website below.