PLANS for a new test to be given to migrants before granting them citizenship is an echo of the conditions for entry under the old, long discredited White Australia Policy.
Like that discriminatory policy from the past, this new migrant test seeks to keep out of Australia unwanted people who are disadvantaged by not being able to speak English, in most cases those who are not of an Anglo-Celtic background.
Australians are far more accepting and welcoming of their newly arrived neighbours these days, but the imposition of the proposed citizenship test would be a throwback to the days of isolation and suspicion of foreigners, and would be a black mark on this country in today’s civilised world.
