So now the Liberals want migrants to pass an English test.

[i-need-a-martini]

Mr Morrison said the English language and jobs for immigrants, not festivals, were the keys to ensuring Australia's prosperity and unity. Australia needed more than a one-off snapshot of immigrants' English proficiency and follow-up tests could ensure language skills did not remain static.

With a big shift from permanent immigration to temporary visas, Mr Morrison said: ''There is a great opportunity to have a series of barriers, if you like - a temporary entry [test], a permanent residence and potentially even citizenship, if people want to have that conversation.'' When prompted, he would not not commit to making English a precondition for citizenship.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/morrison-harks-to-integration-20130717-2q4m...

Another Liberal politician who's mouth spews forth gardbage before his brain cogs start working.

[cat_mioux]

Morisson is a dill but I agree migrants should be encouraged to learn English if they plan to live here permanently.

I don't know if this is going to sound racist but if it does I don't give a fig. I've walked down the street at my local shopping centre in my suburb many times and not one person was speaking english. Do you know how disconcerting it is to live in an english speaking country and not understand one word that's being spoken around you?

I speak to a lot of people at my job and I'm appalled at the number of people who can't speak enough English to give me basic information like their address. I've asked them how long they have lived in Australia for and it's decades. DECADES! And they can't give me their address and they can't even spell their street name. Even a 4 year old can recite their address. It just seems like a case of 'can't be bothered'.

Rant over.

[donnashuggy]

I think Australians in general could do with a few English lessons (those that are born here)

[*elizabeths-mum*]

I can join your rant in that when I worked in Sydney, shift handover of a ward I was (supposed to be) in charge of was often done in Filipino and relayed to me later in English. 

[spotweldersfriend]

Too roit donna.I wuz gun assay der same fing.Not many Strayans know how to speak propply par tickly dohs dat complain about my grunts.

[cat_mioux]

Relayed in English to you later? 😞

I also receive calls from nurses at work and I'm surpised at how little English they speak. Once my local post office hired a lovely woman who could hardly speak nor understand English. It was very frustrating for both sides of the counter. She didn't last long in the job. Why they hired her in the first place I have no idea.

[donnashuggy]

Yes, there are many aussies that are lost for words when conversing with English, Russian, Polish and German immigrants for example 

Spoiler

[i-need-a-martini]

My father learnt his new language within a year of his arrival and I rarely hear him speaking his native language now.

My mother unfortunately never quite mastered it no matter how much she tried beyond simple words enough to get her through the shopping. She has been here nearly 50 years.

Both are hardworking Australian citizens who contributed much to this country and gave birth to 4 intelligent Australians.

If Morrison's English test had been in place when they migrated, they both would have failed. They would never have met and I would never have been born. In fact, I imagine the majority of migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds would fail.

The only migrants we would accept are British and New Zealanders (who are of course still our largets source of immigrants).

To hold back migrants because they lack language skills but they would otherwise manage to get by with other skills harks back to Australian xenophobia circa 1950.

[cat_mioux]

Of course I wouldn't expect a non English speaking person to have to learn English to get into Australia. But I would expect if a person is applying for citzenship they should be able to pass a basic English language test.

[spotweldersfriend]

Creo que el ingles esta sobrevalorado.Todo el mundo deberia ser capaz de hablar espanol y arabe.

[spotweldersfriend]

....cobber 🙂