Zach LarkinsAUSSIE RULES CITIZENSHIP
I always wondered what the fascination with Australia was. I would look at it in an atlas or on a globe and wonder how things really worked ‘Down Under'. I would, and still do, imagine that the wildlife, kangaroos, koalas and platypuses, is well worth seeing and studying. I can't imagine a country having so much inhospitable ground such as the Outback, which seems impossible to settle. I can't imagine Christmas without snow either, but if our seasons were truly reversed, shouldn't they have snow in July? Does it even snow in Australia?
I know Australia began life for the white man as a penal colony. The British must have thought of it as their answer to France's Devil's Island, only a whole lot bigger. Australia is not that much different from North America when it comes to the white man pushing the Aboriginals off their land. We did it to the Indians, they did it to the Abo's.
Australia is also very similar to Canada when it comes to granting citizenship to immigrants. Is this part of our British heritage? Maybe. But where Canada remains somewhat lackadaisical towards immigration, Australia seems to be taking the bull by the horns and is looking at the whole deal through different eyes.
We're all familiar with accounts of the Aussies not allowing rust bucket ships filled to the gunwales with ‘refugees' to land on their shores. It is something the Americans try with the Cubans (not with much success) and something Canada should embrace. I often kid my wife that if she had washed up on a rock in Newfoundland, the trials and tribulations we went through to make her a Canadian citizen would have been nil compared with doing it legally.
But recent news out of Canberra says the Aussies might just be getting a bit fed up. Immigrants can have their Australian citizenship applications vetoed by the national spy agency under tough new laws passed by the Parliament. Why is this important? In Canada, we vette the application through various processes, but the final decision to yea or nay it comes from Immigration itself. If an applicant is a suspected spy or terrorist, CSIS and the RCMP can make their feelings known but Immigration can chose to ignore any or all recommendations made. Thus we can end up with numerous unsavoury characters in our midst. It seems Australia doesn't want to follow this rule anymore. The change in their legislation gives a new veto power to the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization, the nation's top spy agency better known as ASIO, enabling citizenship applications to be refused to anyone considered a national security risk. Bravo, Australia.
They've also raised the ante for eligibility from 2 to 4 years. This should give the immigrants enough time to learn something about their new home, learn at least the rudimentaries of the language (English) and give the authorities a bit more time to check them out. It raises the age at which immigrants become exempt from a basic English language test for citizenship from 50 to 60 years. The changes also enable the government to revoke a new Australian's citizenship if it were obtained by fraud. We've had this for years, but we give the immigrant trial after trial to prove he was a Nazi war criminal and in the end, few are stripped of citizenship and deported. Let's hope the Australians are wiser than that.
The changes come amid public outrage about overseas-born radical Islamic leaders who gain Australian citizenship despite preaching against Australian society. Citizenship Minister Kevin Andrews told the Parliament the amendments "represent major improvements in the legislation which has served us well over the years but needs to better meet the challenges of the 21st century."
Canada could learn a lesson from our friends in the deep south.
I know Australia began life for the white man as a penal colony. The British must have thought of it as their answer to France's Devil's Island, only a whole lot bigger. Australia is not that much different from North America when it comes to the white man pushing the Aboriginals off their land. We did it to the Indians, they did it to the Abo's.
Australia is also very similar to Canada when it comes to granting citizenship to immigrants. Is this part of our British heritage? Maybe. But where Canada remains somewhat lackadaisical towards immigration, Australia seems to be taking the bull by the horns and is looking at the whole deal through different eyes.
We're all familiar with accounts of the Aussies not allowing rust bucket ships filled to the gunwales with ‘refugees' to land on their shores. It is something the Americans try with the Cubans (not with much success) and something Canada should embrace. I often kid my wife that if she had washed up on a rock in Newfoundland, the trials and tribulations we went through to make her a Canadian citizen would have been nil compared with doing it legally.
But recent news out of Canberra says the Aussies might just be getting a bit fed up. Immigrants can have their Australian citizenship applications vetoed by the national spy agency under tough new laws passed by the Parliament. Why is this important? In Canada, we vette the application through various processes, but the final decision to yea or nay it comes from Immigration itself. If an applicant is a suspected spy or terrorist, CSIS and the RCMP can make their feelings known but Immigration can chose to ignore any or all recommendations made. Thus we can end up with numerous unsavoury characters in our midst. It seems Australia doesn't want to follow this rule anymore. The change in their legislation gives a new veto power to the Australian Security and Intelligence Organization, the nation's top spy agency better known as ASIO, enabling citizenship applications to be refused to anyone considered a national security risk. Bravo, Australia.
They've also raised the ante for eligibility from 2 to 4 years. This should give the immigrants enough time to learn something about their new home, learn at least the rudimentaries of the language (English) and give the authorities a bit more time to check them out. It raises the age at which immigrants become exempt from a basic English language test for citizenship from 50 to 60 years. The changes also enable the government to revoke a new Australian's citizenship if it were obtained by fraud. We've had this for years, but we give the immigrant trial after trial to prove he was a Nazi war criminal and in the end, few are stripped of citizenship and deported. Let's hope the Australians are wiser than that.
The changes come amid public outrage about overseas-born radical Islamic leaders who gain Australian citizenship despite preaching against Australian society. Citizenship Minister Kevin Andrews told the Parliament the amendments "represent major improvements in the legislation which has served us well over the years but needs to better meet the challenges of the 21st century."
Canada could learn a lesson from our friends in the deep south.
Video Gamer Kids
Little Green Foosballs
PolyKicks
Checkmate
I recommend that you modify your document.
Joe Blogg's Blog
manchesterunited
collingwoodfootballclub
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
Old Movies
Cane Toad Warrior
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern
Luke, thanks, I don't think anyone here knows it snows in Australia.
Joe Blogg, we're stuck with Quebec and because of official bilingualism, we're stuck with French too.
Cibbuano, is that because of economic reasons? I would imagine it's cheaper to go from say China to Australia than all the way to Canada.
Oz Politics and Kulture!
The treatment of refugees who come to Australia risking everything on unseaworthy boats is a fairly recent event and one that does not sit comfortably with many Australians.
We have in the past accepted many people who have arrived in this fashion and i believe Australia is a much better place for having done it. While these is often a reluctance from those who have left behind their home country and cultures to assimilate into the country the successive generations following have done nothing but to enrich this country.
Look at some of Australia's leading doctors, business people and those who make up the general population and you will find personal and family stories of how they came to Australia in harrowing circumstance. They will tell you how these events conditioned them to wanting to do so much for the country that had given them a chance at a new start.
If you believe that turning away people on unseaworthy boats and leaving them to perish is some how a noble thing to do then i feel truly sorry for your lack of compassion toward your fellow human beings. Read the story of the SIVEX and how over 300 asylum seekers drowned while the Australian government did nothing to help them. This is not the Australian spirit of a fair-go.
Do you really believe some trials and tribulations with bureaucracy is anything compared to a journey on a unseaworthy over crowded boat.
If you think that once they arrive in Australia asylum seekers are suddenly given homes upon their arrival into Australia then you are sadly mistaken as well. Thankfully there have been some changes made but in recent years women and children have been locked up behind razor wire in the middle of central Australia for years while they are processed. The majority of these people are found to be genuine refugees who then emerge from these prisons with major mental and health problems.
Not only that but the Government has also deported people who have lived here since they were children back to their country of origin because of a criminal record. They have dumped people in a country where they have no ties, no family and no language skills.
The current Governments treatment of refugee and immigrants is appalling and is a shameful page of Australia’s recent history. It sits there next to our appalling treatment of Indigenous Australia.
I am a proud Australian but I am not proud of this government at all!!!
Finally I would like you to use the following link to listen to the podcast of an interview with a former refugee Mortezza Porvadi and his story of his treatment by the Australian Government. If his story does not move you then i suggest you head to cardiologist to confirm wether you have a heart or not. Refugee Mortezza Poorvadi Link
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern
The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.