The new 'white Australia' language test' from Minister Dutton.

Here are some question from the new Australian citizenship test, 2017.

- On what date did European settlement start?

- When were the colonies united into a federation of states?

- What is the population of Australia today?

- What does the Commonwealth Coat of Arms identify?

- What type of religious heritage does Australia have?

- What is the Australian Electoral Commission?

- How many representatives from each state are there in the Senate?

- What does COAG stand for?

- How many steps does a Bill have to go through to become a law?

- The worldwide coal industry allocates extensive resources to researching and developing new technologies and ways of capturing greenhouse gases. Efficiencies are likely to be improved dramatically, and hence CO2 emissions reduced, through combustion and gasification techniques, which are now at pilot and demonstration stage?

And according to Tony Burke, you might have to know what 'Calisthenics' means and who Herodotus was (actually he was a pretty cool bloke and one of the first historians, albeit 2,500 years ago. What he has to do with Australia is anyone's guess).

(PS. I bet Dutton couldn't answer half of these.)

You may be pleased to know that yesterday Rose passed her citizenship test! (Coached by me on the right answers and learning them assiduously.)

And students of the English language will be astonished to hear that Malcolm Turnbull used 'learnings' twice in a media conference yesterday. He must have been taking lessons from Borat.

Mind you, it has some literary precedent.

" The Toad, having finished his breakfast, picked up a stout stick and swung it vigorously, belabouring imaginary animals. 'I'll learn 'em to steal my house!' he cried. 'I'll learn 'em, I'll learn 'em!'

'Don't say "learn 'em," Toad,' said the Rat, greatly shocked. 'It's not good English.'

'What are you always nagging at Toad for?' inquired the Badger, rather peevishly. 'What's the matter with his English? It's the same what I use myself, and if it's good enough for me, it ought to be good enough for you!'

'I'm very sorry,' said the Rat humbly. 'Only I think it ought to be "teach 'em," not "learn 'em."'

'But we don't want to teach 'em,' replied the Badger. 'We want to learn 'em— learn 'em, learn 'em! And what's more, we're going to do it, too!'

'Oh, very well, have it your own way,' said the Rat. He was getting rather muddled about it himself, and presently he retired into a corner, where he could be heard muttering, 'Learn 'em, teach 'em, teach 'em, learn 'em!' till the Badger told him rather sharply to leave off. "
_________

Australia is a better place because people like Rose choose to join us as fellow citizens. PNG Attitude's good wishes to both Rose and Peter - KJ

I can well understand the cynicism surrounding Malcolm Turnbull's nationalistic chest thumping.

He has seized upon the apparent abuse of 457 visas by his business mates as an excuse to play the last card in a desperate politician's hand, being the nationalist card or, as some would have it, the race card.

It seems to me that there is precious little evidence that toughening the existing Citizenship Test to, supposedly, better reflect Australian values, is going to help to turn immigrants into model citizens.

The much more important thing to do is ensure that prospective immigrants are thoroughly (and fairly) vetted before they are allowed to set foot in the country.

So far as I am aware, it is not new immigrants who have adopted radical religious and political views such as those espoused by the despicable Islamic fascists like ISIS and Al Qaeda.

Rather, it has been home grown idiots with a chip on their shoulder and perilously little common sense who have joined extremist groups or committed terrorist acts.

Despite the problems surrounding the internment of illegal immigrants, Australia has done extremely well in terms of quietly and effectively integrating huge numbers of immigrants into our communities. Perhaps only Canada has a comparable record of achievement in this regard.

This is not to say that everything is wonderful but the overall record is pretty impressive nonetheless.

Sure, there are racists in Australia but their influence is grossly exaggerated both by them and their more vociferous opponents.

If you want to see a genuinely racist society you need only look at places like France or Japan or China where it is exceedingly difficult or impossible to achieve citizenship as an immigrant or refugee.

In this context, Turnbull's latest policy initiative is both largely useless and disingenuous. There are reasonable grounds to believe that he is "dog whistling" to the likes of One Nation supporters and other ultra-nationalist groups.

Given their generally impressive contributions to Australian society, the representative of our various immigrant communities must be both baffled and infuriated by the government's sudden discovery of a muscular variety of Australian nationalism.

Now, if the government can just settle quickly on what core Australian values actually are and how they differ from those in other countries, they can stitch this all up into a neat policy package for the slightly bemused masses.

Good luck with that Malcolm.

Dear Phil, I caught Turnbull briefly on TV this morning muttering about values and strengthening borders.

It is quite disconcerting to look at his cabinet ministers and their portfolios. There is not one individual of any stature that demonstrates leadership.

Some may argue that Tony Abbott has the gumption but he dissolved into a gibbering mess on the world stage during his opening speech at the G20 in Brisbane several years ago.

Scomo is semi-articulate and if you removed the word mate from his vocabulary he would be a mute.

Mutton Dutton makes David Beckham appear intelligent and Julie Bishop is merely a flowerpot who sits there looking pretty for the cameras.

Michaelia Cash should team up with John Kerry and put on a real life Punch and Judy show, they are ready made caricatures.

Mutton Dutton is indeed an intriguing character - a sort of Dickensian Australian.

I heard that if they decide to take Malcolm out back and put him out of his misery Mutton is one of the candidates for his job, wouldn't that be fun?

Mutton always brings to mind a poem by that great American writer Stephen Crane (Red Badge of Courage et al):

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said: "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter-bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

Amusing!