Australian Citizenship Test
In his book Wasted Lives: Modernity and Its Outcasts, the prominent sociologist Zygmunt Bauman says ‘Human vulnerability and uncertainty are the principal raison d’etre of all political power’. Since September 11, the political power in the West and all over the world has been fed on ‘the official fear’ of terrorism, which involves so much uncertainty and also threatens human vulnerability. Bauman points out that since the terrorist attacks in the US, migrants and especially refugees, mainly the ones from Muslim background, have been turned into objects of ‘official fear’ and social anxiety in relation to terrorism. There has been so much talk about ‘the European values’ and some people have been anxious that these values will be lost and the societies in Europe might fall apart due to multiculturalism.
Similar issues have been also raised in Australia since September 11. In Australia, Cronulla riots in 2005 became another turning point which has strengthened the political power against multiculturalism, and since then migrants and refugees have been continuously reminded of ‘the Australian values’ and ‘Australian way of life’.
Recently the government has announced that it will introduce a Citizenship test for the potential Australian citizens. The test will be in English and consist of 20 questions about Australian history, politics, sports, plants, and animals etc in Australia, which are randomly selected out of 200 questions. I think the citizenship test is discriminatory against migrants with limited English and limited literacy. Some of the sample questions from the test are below: (http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21752187-2,00.html?CMP=KNC-google)
1. Which colours are represented on the Australian flag?
a. Green and yellow
b. Red, black and yellow
c. Blue, red and white
d.Orange and purple
2. Indigenous people have lived in Australia for …
a. At least 40,000 years
b. About 8000 years
c. About 800 years
d. Less that 400 years
3. Australia’s national flower is the …
a. Rose
b. Wattle
c. Kangaroo paw
d. Banksia
4. Which is a popular sport in Australia?
a. Ice hockey
b. Water polo
c. Cricket
d. Table tennis 5. Australia’s political system is a …
a. Parliamentary democracy
b. Monarchy
c. Dictatorship
d. Socialist state
6. The Capital of Australia is…
a. Sydney
b. Melbourne
c. Hobart
d.Canberra
7. Which animals are on the Australian Coat of Arms?
a. Wombat and echidna
b. Kangaroo and emu
c. Kangaroo and dingo
d. Lion and unicorn
8. Where did the first European settlers to Australia come from?
a. Spain
b. France
c. England
d.Ireland
9. Who is Australia’s head of state?
a. Prime Minister John Howard
b. Queen Elizabeth II
c. Governor General Michael Jeffery
d. Premier Steve Bracks
10. Who was the first Prime Minister of Australia?
a. Sir Edmund Barton
b. Sir Henry Parkes
c. John Curtin
d. Sir Robert Menzies
11. What song is Australia’s national anthem?
a. God Save the Queen
b. Star Spangled Banner
c. Advance Australia Fair
d. Waltzing Matilda
12. What do you call the elected head of a state government?
a. Governor
b. Premier
c. Mayor
d. Prime Minister
13. Which federal political party or parties are in power?
a. Australian Labor Party
b. Australian Democrats and the Australian Greens
c. National Party
d. Liberal Party and National Party
14. Which of the following are Australian values?
a. Men and women are equal
b. `A fair go’
c. Mateship
d. All of the above
15. Australia’s values are based on the …
a. Teachings of the Koran
b. The Judaeo-Christian tradition
c. Catholicism
d. Secularism
16. What does Anzac Day commemorate?
a. The Gallipoli landing
b. Armistice Day
c. The Battle of the Somme
d. Victory in the Pacific
17. In what year did the first European settlers arrive?
a. 1801
b. 1770
c. 1788
d. 1505
18. How many states are there in Australia?
a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8
19. Australian soldiers fought in …
a. World War I and World War II
b. Korean War
c. Vietnam War
d. All of the above
20. What is Australia’s biggest river system?
a. The Murray Darling
b. The Murrumbidgee
c The Yarra
d. The Mississippi
Answers:
1) C, 2) A, 3) B, 4) C, 5) A, 6) D, 7) B, 8 ) C, 9) B, 10) A, 11) C, 12) B, 13) D, 14) D, 15) B, 16) A, 17) C, 18) B, 19) D, 20) A
Of course these questions are discriminatory. But citizenship is discriminatory by definition. The question is, are these particular questions discriminating against the right people? This test seems to go pretty easy on “values”. You could dispute “mateship,” but is the principle of demanding that people accept certain “values” a priori wrong? Can it not be a useful exercise to agree, or in the absence of consensus, even to impose certain “values”? For me, the question is much more what those should be.
My problem with this test is the values part. I don’t think demanding that people accept certain values is a priori wrong (when it is these current values concerned). However, the way these questions are framed gives these values a specifically “Australian” feel: again, a “fair go” is not something that is confined to our borders. These values are just so overt and explicit in their deadening repetition the past couple of years that they are becoming mere caricatures of themselves, things we tell ourselves that we hold valuable–in some cases lacking any practical application (fair go for asylum seekers, male-female inequalities).
Also, the talk of Australia’s values being Judaeo-Christian. This is interesting because it brings up the whole question of ‘particularly, where do our values come from?’ I know that Australian values are not simple reproductions of the Old and New Testaments, there have been other things that have formed Australia’s values since Christ. What I’m trying to say is that we can’t simply isolate Christianity or Judaism as constituting Australia’s ethical foundations, and ignore everything else that has changed how we interpret the Bible and even things that the mass comes to widely value that aren’t in the Bible (Hayek and the free-market? The Welfare State?).
I don’t think I made too much sense with that second paragraph, but I just believe that putting this question about ‘Judaeo-Christian’ values in is only for the purposes of putting us in opposition to Islamic values (or possibly, even more naively on the test creators’ part, ‘reminding’ Muslims that they are in a Christian country where sharia will never be implemented?). If this test were to occur before 9/11, or whenever the *current* anti-Musim hysteria began, I don’t think we would see any references to Australia’s religious past.
Well, but if there is only one correct answer to that question, then isn’t it most likely “secularism” and not “Judaeo-Christian”? If it is the latter, yes, I object too. But the main thrust of your comment seems to be that the problem is not with the test itself, but that it is discursively *used* to frame particular (i.e. Muslim) immigrants as not conforming to particular “values”.
I think you’re right about my opinion, but reflecting on it I think it may be that I see the two (the test and the situation giving rise to it) as inseparable. There is no neutral test that could be introduced in our current context, the test could not be formed in an apolitical vacuum . So you’re right in that I have less a problem with the test and more a problem for what I perceive as its purpose. Whatever tool was used to frame these individuals as deviants I would have a problem with.
About a test in itself, I can’t have an opinion on because I just can’t conceive of one apart from a context in which there was some political purpose in mind (perhaps a fault of my thinking).
Of course citizenship is always discriminatory. But I believe the test is very much politically motivated. I think some countries in Europe have also introduced similar tests. It is a general political shift in the West to anti-immigrant attitutes and general anxiety that everything might fall apart. People wouldn’t learn values etc just by answering the questions in the test . And probably people will only memorise the right answers just to pass the test. The government is aware of it. The test is only a ‘warning sign’ based on the idea that immigrants have been challenging the ‘law and ‘order’. Another thing is some questions are even difficult for Australians born and educated in Australia.
And the test will encourage the migrants with little English and education level to apply for citizenship, and they won’t be able to benefit from the rights which comes with it.
Question 15 is wrong, and it pisses me off.
If our values were taken from religious contexts like the bible, shouldnt we disagree with the fact that the aboriginal people lived in australia thousands of years before the bible says earth was created?
my friend just got his citiezenship which got me interesting what are the question were …holy …i dont think all of native australian would able to answer them all correct . Should the test be like “how many beer you can drink within 30 mins ?” “What football team you follow?” etc .