If you ignore the racist rhetoric and the attempts to characterise all by the actions of the few, you realise the truth is quite different:

http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1185325096

Migrants are better educated, more law-abiding, are generally healthier and less dependent on welfare than the average Australian-born citizen, a new report reveals.

Migrants are required to pass a series of health checks before acquiring temporary or permanent status in Australia.

The report found migrants have a lower hospitalisation rate than Australian-born citizens.

UNE professor Jim Walmsley, co-editor of the report, said there was no evidence of a "migrant underclass" or "ethnic enclave ghettos" in Australia and the report "dispelled a number of myths about the impact of migrants on the host community".

"On the contrary, the available evidence overwhelmingly supports the view that migrants to Australia have made substantial contributions to Australia's stock of human, social and produced capital," Prof Walmsley said.

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If anyone has failed to assimilate, it is people like Dude. His family has probably been here for generations, yet he still openly rejects aussie values.

You will learn the hard way Farkin Dickhead, I wont help you in your hour of peril.

I wonder how successful people who failed a driving test would be if they lobbied to have the test made easier?

Doesn't the 'fair go' bit contradict your other requirements?

Citizenship review may axe sport, dates

http://news.smh.com.au/citizenship-review-may-axe-sport-dates/20080129-1onz.html

Questions that ask would-be citizens to recall historical dates and sporting trivia appear set for the axe under a review of the Australian citizenship test.

The review, announced on Tuesday by Immigration Minister Chris Evans, will examine whether some test questions are inappropriate and whether the level of English required to pass is set too high.

It also will determine whether the test is deterring people from taking out Australian citizenship after a drop in applications since its introduction by the Howard government on October 1.

The Rudd government has ruled out scrapping the test but says it wants to ensure the quiz is not an "artificial barrier" to citizenship.

Senator Evans said he believed some test questions were inappropriate, particularly those that asked applicants to recall the names of famous sportspeople or historical dates such as the year the Australian flag was first flown.

"I think it's really important that new citizens have an understanding of our democracy, how it functions, (and) have an understanding of the values of Australia," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"It's important to understand about the right to vote, about the rule of law ... the role of the police, that we don't tolerate violence.

"Whether or not they need to understand the history of Walter Lindrum's contribution to billiards in the 1930s and 40s I'm not so sure."

The test is done through a computer and the government believes this may be confronting to some people, particularly those without formal education.

"I know my dad would find the idea of a test on a computer quite confronting," Senator Evans said.

There were suggestions the level of English required to complete the test may be set too high - close to the level of a native speaker.

Civil Liberties Australia said the test had been clearly skewed to disadvantage refugees and humanitarian immigrants.

"Cricket is not a high priority, when just eating and surviving is all they have time for," president Kristine Klugman said.

"The test needs to be reviewed on the basis of its purpose and the equity with which it achieves this purpose - it's hard to see how it is needed now when it hasn't been for the past 60 years."

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Citizenship test 'must be in English'

http://news.smh.com.au/citizenship-test-must-be-in-english/20080130-1p1u.html

The federal opposition doesn't want would-be citizens to take the Australian citizenship test in their native language.

Refugees and humanitarian entrants from countries such as Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq are failing the test at rates far higher than applicants from industrialised nations, departmental figures show.

"For it to be conducted in anything other than English flies in the face of the purpose of the test," Senator Ellison told AAP.

"If the immigration minister is seeking to increase the success rate of refugee and humanitarian entrants, we support that.

"But he should be looking at measures to provide further assistance to refugee and humanitarian entrants, not a wholesale watering-down of the test."

There was no evidence of widespread failure rates making people unable to gain citizenship, Senator Ellison said.

Although the information booklet on which the test is based comes in foreign languages, citizenship applicants must complete the actual test in English.

Before the test's introduction in October, applicants for Australian citizenship took an English test conducted by a departmental interviewer.

A person must have lived in Australia for at least four years before being eligible to sit the citizenship test.

Senator Ellison rejected suggestions the test had deterred people from taking out Australian citizenship, saying its impact needed to be judged over a longer term.

Immigration department figures show the number of people applying for citizenship slumped from 13,930 in August last year and 21,110 in September to just 2,170 in October and 3,400 in November.

What if you don't care about sport?

hi,
i'm almost 60yrs, now.
all i can tell you is:
this country was better in every way 30yrs ago.
we've become a dumping ground for other countries.
not good, and never will be.
dr9.