The citizenship test
The long awaited citizenship test is out, with the "Australian" values. It can be found here.
The values are not as bad as I believed they would of been. Our values are divided ito:-
• respect for the equal worth, dignity
and freedom of the individual
• freedom of speech
• freedom of religion and
secular government
• freedom of association
• support for parliamentary
democracy and the rule of law
• equality under the law
• equality of men and women
• equality of opportunity
• peacefulness
• tolerance, mutual respect and
compassion for those in need.
The booklet says that "These values and principles are central to Australia remaining a stable, prosperous and peaceful community. They provide the common reference points for our free and democratic society. While shared to some extent by all liberal democracies, they have been adapted to Australia’s unique setting, moulded and modernised through waves of settlement by people from all over the world.
The booklet then goes into each of points in a little more detail. The unique Australian setting that they have adapted to appears to be nothing more then insisting the word "Australian" (or it's variants and suffixes) one mention of "fair go" and Howard's personal touch "Mateship" (Little git had to get it in there somewhere)
One part did surprise. Under a "fair go" it talks about how all Australians, no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation disability etc have equal standing in the law and equal opportunities. How does this gel with the Howard government's stance on gay marriage? Isn't that a denial of equal opportunity?
While the values spelled out in the booklet are okay, the test itself is worrying . You can't view the questions themselves but you can take a practice test, which consists of five questions. These questions do not appear to change or randomise. One of the questions is "Which one of these Australians is famous for playing cricket" The answer being "Sir Donald Bradman". I have to ask the question, how is this essential knowledge of Australian culture - considering that according to the Australian Bureau of Statisitics only 4.7% of Adult males play out door cricket and only 8.9% of adult males attend cricket matches (there are no figures for females playing and only 3.5% attend) and according to Oztam, the official tv ratings no cricket made it into the top twenty broadcasts. A lot of other sporting events did, including the winner Commonwealth games (opening and closing ceremony), NRL grand final, AFL grand final, Australian open, and the World cup. Cricket did make into the weekly break downs but only for two weeks and at only under 2,000 viewers, in a country of 21 million, which makes it less then 1% of the population.
So it appears that Australians don't really like cricket all that much. So why did those from other countries seeking citizenship have to know anything about it if those of us already citizens don't give a shit about it? Based on the ABS and Oztam we should be asking them an AFL question, Attendance at AFL games is a whooping 21% and the AFL grand final made it to number 2 for most watch TV shows last year.
Another thing that bugs me is in the booklet. It ha a little table to break down Australia into statistics for an overview. In the religion part it mentions Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews but fails to mentions Atheists despite the fact that at the last census we accounted for 18.7% of the population - which is more the the Jews, the Buddhists, the Hindus and the Muslims combined. Their value systems says that we don't have to have a religion yet the government seems willing to ignore us.
Anyway I could rant on, but it's late and I need sleep. Hopefully this will reprise the much missed debates and discussions that use to a vital part of our blogs.
The values are not as bad as I believed they would of been. Our values are divided ito:-
• respect for the equal worth, dignity
and freedom of the individual
• freedom of speech
• freedom of religion and
secular government
• freedom of association
• support for parliamentary
democracy and the rule of law
• equality under the law
• equality of men and women
• equality of opportunity
• peacefulness
• tolerance, mutual respect and
compassion for those in need.
The booklet says that "These values and principles are central to Australia remaining a stable, prosperous and peaceful community. They provide the common reference points for our free and democratic society. While shared to some extent by all liberal democracies, they have been adapted to Australia’s unique setting, moulded and modernised through waves of settlement by people from all over the world.
The booklet then goes into each of points in a little more detail. The unique Australian setting that they have adapted to appears to be nothing more then insisting the word "Australian" (or it's variants and suffixes) one mention of "fair go" and Howard's personal touch "Mateship" (Little git had to get it in there somewhere)
One part did surprise. Under a "fair go" it talks about how all Australians, no matter their gender, race, sexual orientation disability etc have equal standing in the law and equal opportunities. How does this gel with the Howard government's stance on gay marriage? Isn't that a denial of equal opportunity?
While the values spelled out in the booklet are okay, the test itself is worrying . You can't view the questions themselves but you can take a practice test, which consists of five questions. These questions do not appear to change or randomise. One of the questions is "Which one of these Australians is famous for playing cricket" The answer being "Sir Donald Bradman". I have to ask the question, how is this essential knowledge of Australian culture - considering that according to the Australian Bureau of Statisitics only 4.7% of Adult males play out door cricket and only 8.9% of adult males attend cricket matches (there are no figures for females playing and only 3.5% attend) and according to Oztam, the official tv ratings no cricket made it into the top twenty broadcasts. A lot of other sporting events did, including the winner Commonwealth games (opening and closing ceremony), NRL grand final, AFL grand final, Australian open, and the World cup. Cricket did make into the weekly break downs but only for two weeks and at only under 2,000 viewers, in a country of 21 million, which makes it less then 1% of the population.
So it appears that Australians don't really like cricket all that much. So why did those from other countries seeking citizenship have to know anything about it if those of us already citizens don't give a shit about it? Based on the ABS and Oztam we should be asking them an AFL question, Attendance at AFL games is a whooping 21% and the AFL grand final made it to number 2 for most watch TV shows last year.
Another thing that bugs me is in the booklet. It ha a little table to break down Australia into statistics for an overview. In the religion part it mentions Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews but fails to mentions Atheists despite the fact that at the last census we accounted for 18.7% of the population - which is more the the Jews, the Buddhists, the Hindus and the Muslims combined. Their value systems says that we don't have to have a religion yet the government seems willing to ignore us.
Anyway I could rant on, but it's late and I need sleep. Hopefully this will reprise the much missed debates and discussions that use to a vital part of our blogs.
posted by Renegade79 at 9:05 am
8 comments
