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Australia starts citizenship test
A 20-question citizenship test was introduced in Australia Monday as part of a government programme to promote the integration of settlers into mainstream culture. Applicants need to get at least 12 of the 20 questions right to qualify for an Australian passport but may sit the exam as many times as it takes to pass. The questions test a grasp of the liberal democratic principles of representative government, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. The test was introduced after the 2005 London bombings, worry that some Muslims were reluctant to integrate and a fear of homegrown Islamic terrorists. "One of great achievements of Australia has been to balance two things: firstly, the diversity of people that have come from more than 200 countries around the world and, secondly, the sense of integrating into one socially cohesive society," Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said earlier in the year when releasing details of the citizenship test. Posted by: Fred 2007-10-02 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=200873 |