Goverment says it will resubmit the naturalization reform bill. (SBS during this winter's session of Congress.)
Amendments to the Australian Citizenship Act are about to return, according to the SBS. The bill, which has been prioritized by (Home Affairs Department), (Peter Dutton) 's Home Affairs Department, will be presented to Congress this month.
On May 22, Senator McKing (Nick McKim) of the Green Party asked (Senate Estimates hearing) at the Senate Review hearing of the Legislative Council on Law and Constitutional Affairs (Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee) about the progress of the naturalization bill reform. The bill has been prioritized and will be presented to Congress during this winter's session, said Gladys (Linda Geddes), deputy minister of the Interior Department.
It is understood that this winter June Congress meeting day includes 18-21 and 25-28. At present, however, the bill has not been included in the Senate Affairs Notification report.
Although a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior did not confirm the date to the SBS, it said "the timing of the submission of the bill is a major event for the goverment."
McQueen has been strongly opposed to the bill. He told the SBS that he had not yet seen a copy of the new bill, but would continue to oppose the proposed reforms to make naturalization more difficult for immigrants.
It is reported, Tan Bao (Malcolm Turnbull) goverment in April 2017 for the first time announced the naturalization reform plan. The reforms include the implementation of values tests, stricter English language tests and a four-year waiting period for permanent residents applying for naturalization. Due to unanimous opposition from the Labour Party, the Green Party and the (Nick Xenophon) faction, the initial version of the naturalization reform bill was not passed by the Senate by the deadline and was formally withdrawn from the Senate on 18 October last year.
Duddon (Peter Dutton) proposed an amendment that month to reduce the requirement for naturalized English and delete the relevant retroactive clause. He said on Oct. 19 that the goverment was willing to accept immigrants who had reached the Band 5 level of the international English test, such as IELTS, compared with a previous proposal of six points (Band 6). Since then, the goverment has been trying to push for amendments to the Citizenship Act to "break through" again in Congress.
More than two hundred thousand pending naturalization applications
The backlog of naturalisation applications is "staggering" now, with more than two hundred thousand applicants still waiting for the results, the SBS reported.
At the Senate review hearing in May, an official at the Home Office said: "as of April 30, there were 209826 pending applications for naturalization by means of" granting (Conferral) nationality. "
"as much as two hundred thousand of the backlog means that the department has not allocated enough resources," McKing said, to process pending applications.
"it's too difficult to get citizenship these days. It takes too long. Goverment has to make it easier."
