Immigration Minister Dudon (Peter Dutton) 's naturalization reform has not been approved by the Senate for. (SBS Broadcasting Pictures)
According to the SBS Broadcasting Corporation and the Sydney Herald Morning Post, immigration minister Dudon (Peter Dutton) 's naturalization reform failed to be passed by the Senate by the deadline and was formally withdrawn from the Senate on Oct. 18.
The reforms include the implementation of values tests, rigorous English language tests and a four-year waiting period for permanent residents applying for naturalization.
The initial plan was unanimously opposed by the Labour Party, the Green Party and the key independent MP, the Shenofeng (Nick Xenophon) faction. The Green Party's earlier application to set the evening of the 18th as the deadline for approval of the plan will now be withdrawn.
The naturalization reform plan was announced on April 20 this year. Duden confirmed that the original regulations will be processed after the release of naturalization applications. In mid-July, Duden told a Senate committee that 47328 people had applied for naturalization on or after April 20 and were likely to be affected by the new rules.
The Immigration Department informed the Federal Ombudsman's office, (Commonwealth Ombudsman), that applications filed after April 20 had not yet begun due to a backlog of applications. The agency has told applicants that it will be concerned about the progress of the bill and the immigration authorities' actions after the bill ran aground.
The government plans to resubmit the bill and hopes the new rules will come into effect on July 1 next year. Duden said on Oct. 19 that the government is willing to accept immigrants who reach the Band 5 level of the international English test, such as IELTS, compared with six points (Band 6) proposed earlier.
Dutton said he was willing to reduce the difficulty of the English test. (photo by Sydney Morning Herald)
The 6-point standard is one of the most controversial points in the Senate and has even been opposed by the (Nick Xenophon) faction, a key independent member of Parliament. The 6-point standard is more difficult and passers-by are regarded as "capable" English speakers; And 5 points are regarded as "basic" English speakers.
The Shenofeng faction said it did not accept it, insisting that the bill would need to be revised as a whole and that all parts would need to be renegotiated, or they would not be able to win faction support. "it's not enough to just revise the principles of English language testing and retroactivity, and we're still going to veto this bill," said (Stirling Griff), a member of the Sheffield faction. The government said it would continue negotiations with independent lawmakers.
Labour naturalized spokesman Booker (Tony Burke) described the results as "great victories." Petsos (Mary Patetsos), president of the (Federation of Ethnic Communities` Councils of Australia), also said whether the bill was "good news for pluralistic Australia."
