As part of that discussion, there was no additional justification provided by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship when it appeared before the committee. There was reference to the fact that there had been consultation--we were all aware of that--and to the fact that citizenship tests exist in other countries, but simply because it is done in other countries is not a justification for why we should do it.

In fact, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship was not able to provide any information to the Senate committee about ways in which a citizenship test had assisted with the project of improving the cohesiveness of society in any of the countries to which it pointed as examples of countries which have citizenship tests.

The government has not put forward a need or a justification for this change. Indeed, our citizenship laws as a whole are working quite well. The example of overseas countries was the only justification put forward to us and the government could not even provide us with an example of how the test had helped in other countries.

In fact, we heard evidence to the contrary. Then there was the issue of whether or not the government's proposed citizenship test would achieve its objectives. We had an extraordinary number of witnesses appear before the committee to say that, no, it would not achieve the objective of improving cohesiveness and that, rather, it was likely to fuel division within our society and undermine existing English language programs.

More Reading on Kerry nettle

• Kerry Nettle
• Hansard
• Greens
• Senate
• Nettle's Citizenship Test Speech
• Nettle's Speech on the Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill