On 7 February 2018, Queensland Senator Pauline Hanson of the One Nation Party introduced a bill into the Senate which proposes changes to the Australian Citizenship Act that are even more draconian than the amendments that were supported in 2017 by the Turnbull Government - which ultimately did not secure passage.
The bill sponsored by Senator Hanson is entitled the "Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening the Commitment for Australian Citizenship and Other Measures) Bill".
The principal features of the legislation are:
* A proposal to increase the period that a person would have to hold permanent residency from the current one year to eight years in order to be eligible to apply for citizenship;
* Require applicants to provide evidence of a "competent" level of proficiency in English in order to make a valid application for citizenship;
* Require applicants to sign an Australian Values Statement as a prerequisite for a valid application;
* Require applicants to demonstrate integration into the Australian community by behaving in a manner consistent with "Australian values";
* Amend the preamble to the Citizenship Act to recognise that people who obtain Australian citizenship "by conferral" undertake to "accept the obligation to "pledge their allegiance to Australia and its people" and to share Australian values.
The legislation will clearly make the pathway to Australian citizenship significantly more difficult than at present.
Will this Bill get anywhere? Will it receive any support from the Turnbull Government? Will it be "dead on arrival"?
We shall see!