Liberal politicians from non-English speaking migrant backgrounds have defended toughened language requirements for aspiring Australian citizens, arguing that the ability to communicate properly with others is critical to successful migration and a multicultural society.
The parents of Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Jason Falinski and Julia Banks arrived in Australia with little or no English. But the federal MPs say their forebears either could have passed the Turnbull government's proposed test or that, even if they couldn't, times have changed.
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Labor's red herring: Dutton
The Immigration Minister has accused a Labor MP of misrepresenting plans for a tougher English language test for those seeking Australian citizenship.
Under the sweeping citizenship package, applicants would have to score a six on the IELTS, the primary international language test, amounting to a "competent" level of English. Labor has rejected the measure out of fears it demands "university level" fluency that many Australians could never reach.
Senator Fierravanti-Wells, the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, said in her first speech to Parliament in 2005 that her father arrived in Sydney in the early 1950s not speaking any English. She learnt the language when she attended kindergarten in Wollongong.
![Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170626185352im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/m/r/2/q/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwxdwb.png/1498352404621.jpg)
Asked by Fairfax Media if the government's proposals were fair for today's migrants, she said a language ability was more important in the modern, services-based Australian economy than the manufacturing-heavy economy her father entered, labelling the two situations apples and oranges.
"You have to understand that you're talking about the English language in two very different contexts. I don't believe you can judge today's context and today's standard by the 1950s. I just think that's a furphy. We are talking decades of difference," Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.
"So I don't buy this 'so and so wouldn't have become a citizen' claim."
Last year, in his first speech to Parliament, Mr Falinski said his father arrived from Poland in the late 1950s and had to learn English selling encyclopaedias door-to-door, receiving abuse in the process.
![Julia Banks.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170626185352im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/v/7/q/r/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwxdwb.png/1498352404621.jpg)
"My father would say that if you come here you have to learn English, otherwise you're locking yourself out of the opportunities that Australia offers," he told Fairfax Media.
"I haven't had the chance to read the whole thing but, from what I've seen, he would have been able to pass the test."
![Jason Falinski.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170626185352im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/o/8/7/l/g/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gwxdwb.png/1498352404621.jpg)
Ms Banks, also elected in 2016, told the Parliament about her father who arrived in Australia from Greece in 1949 and "could not speak a word of English".
She believes it is critical for Australians to be able to communicate with others and that, while her father and grandparents may not have been able to attain a level six on the IELTS, it is "false to compare today to back then".
![<p>](http://web.archive.org./web/20170626185352im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/x/w/7/8/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gwxdwb.png/1498434630548.jpg)
"It's a different world now. We all know we need to increase employment in the workforce, access to services – it is a necessity to be able to speak English. To me, it forms the pillar of equality to say that to be a citizen you need to be proficient in the English language."
In his first speech to Parliament in 2013, Liberal frontbencher Michael Sukkar also spoke of his migrant heritage, reflecting on his Lebanese father who "arrived in Australia with little English but a great deal of drive, intellect and energy".
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has dismissed Labor's concerns about the measure contained in the citizenship package, which also outlines an Australian values test and a longer waiting period for people hoping to become citizens.
Mr Dutton said this week that the opposition was confusing two versions of IELTS, the "general" stream and the "academic" one, noting the government's version focused on "basic survival skills in broad social and workplace contexts".
However, globally renowned specialist Catherine Elder rebuffed this argument, describing the two standards as "more or less the same".
"A level six on both tests requires you to be highly literate and to be able to do things like write an essay. It would take a great deal of time and be beyond the reach of many people who come to Australia," she told Fairfax Media.