Revamped Australian citizenship test aimed at weeding out problem would-be Aussies

EXCLUSIVE: Muslim extremists, troublemakers and dole bludgers wanting to take advantage of Australia’s generosity could be stopped in their tracks by a revamped citizenship test.

The government has ­already moved to strip terrorists who hold dual citizenship.

MUSLIM extremists, troublemakers and dole bludgers wanting to take advantage of Australia’s generosity could soon be stopped in their tracks by a revamped citizenship test aimed at weeding out problem would-be Aussies.

The Turnbull government is working on a plan to replace the Howard government citizenship test with a more contemporary test that examines whether migrants have integrated into the Australian way of life and adopted its social values.

Instead of asking 20 multiple choice “Trivial Pursuit” style questions about the Australian Parliament and democracy, the new citizenship test would ask applicants whether they have been working, whether their spouse is enrolled in English-language lessons and whether their children are attending school.

New questions are planned.

High-level, early-stage meetings on the visa reform were held during the week at Parliament House in Canberra, led by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

The reforms are designed to control the type of migrants who become Australian citizens, from extremists to dole-bludgers.

The new test would aim to stop the problem of radical migrants who subscribe to sharia law and speak their own language at home from becoming Australians.

A senior government source told The Saturday Telegraph that there were people becoming Australian citizens who should not be, and this was a way to deal with the situation.

It follows a worrying pattern in which some of Australia’s worst terror incidents have been hatched by migrants who became citizens.

One of the three men convicted of a terror plot on Sydney’s Holsworthy army barracks, Saney Aweys, arrived in Australia from Somalia when he was 15 on a refugee and humanitarian visa. He was granted citizenship in 2002.

Lindt cafe siege terrorist Man Haron Monis arrived in Australia from Iran on a one-month visa in 1996. Despite ongoing security concerns, he was granted Australian citizenship in 2004.

And teenage terrorist Farhad Jabar, who killed Sydney police civilian Curtis Cheng, was of Iraqi Kurdish heritage and came to Australia through Iran on the refugee program in 2006. Along with his family, he was granted Australian citizenship about four years later.

Under the current system, applicants are granted Australian citizenship unless they have a criminal conviction recorded against them.

Mr Dutton declined to comment on the reforms when contacted by The Saturday Telegraph.

In December 2006 the Howard government announced its new citizenship test and values statement for permanent and selected temporary visa applicants.

It is divided into three sections with multiple choice questions on Australia and its people, Australia’s democratic beliefs, rights and liberties and government and the law in Australia.

At the time, Mr Howard was criticised for the test being a form of Trivial Pursuit. He said it was designed to ensure people have a working capacity in the national language.

The new test is understood to help ensure migrants granted citizenship are already integrating into the Australian way of life.

The government has ­already moved to strip terrorists who hold dual citizenship of their Australian passport.

IN OTHER NEWS: FAREWELL TO FLORENCE HENDERSON