Andrew Bolt: Peak shame in our nation surrendering unity, pride and citizenship

The Labor government is ashamed of this country and careless of our unity, and our Prime Minister not even having an opinion about leaving our defence to foreign mercenaries is damning.

We’ve reached peak shame, when the Albanese government must ask mercenaries to defend this country because Australians won’t. This should be when we finally realise the deadly danger of trashing our history, traditions and flag.

Instead, Matt Keogh, our Minister for Defence Personnel, on Friday babbled like it was no big deal that we’re so short of soldiers he was considering hiring “friendly forces from other countries”.

“Certainly we’re looking at the Pacific,” he added, counting on Fijians, Tongans and Tuvaluans to save us if China attacks.

It is damning that our Prime Minister didn’t even have an opinion about leaving our defence to foreign mercenaries. Anthony Albanese waved off questions: “That’s a matter for (Defence Minister) Richard Marles.”

Minister for Defence Personnel Matt Keogh on Friday babbled like it was no big deal that we’re so short of soldiers he was considering hiring ‘friendly forces from other countries’. Picture: Gary Ramage

This has been some time coming. Alarms should have sounded when more Australian Muslims volunteered for Islamic State than volunteered to serve in the Australian Defence Force.

But our politicians and elites kept preaching that Australia was racist and genocidal. Big surprise we’re now critically short of Australians prepared to defend this sorry country.

This rot has accelerated under Labor, which is so ashamed of this country and careless of our unity that it last year tried to divide us by race by creating an Aboriginal-only advisory parliament, in our constitution.

Now it’s letting 81 councils scrap Australia Day celebrations as if January 26 is a day of tears. It’s also letting public servants take off an alternative day, when a proud government of a proud country would instead insist that anyone who won’t celebrate our national day doesn‘t deserve a day off.

The PM waved off questions about leaving Australia’s defence to foreign mercenearies, saying it was a matter for Defence Minister Richard Marles. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

It goes on. This week we learned that just 65 per cent of 288,000 immigrants sitting our citizenship test had passed. Under the last Coalition government, it was 80 per cent.

They needed to answer just 15 of 20 multiple-choice questions as simple as this: what is the capital of Australia? Should people in Australia make an effort to learn English?

But if you think that’s bad, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles’s response was worse. He suggested the test change to suit immigrants, not that immigrants must learn to suit Australia.

He said the government wanted “a citizenship ­system that is fair, efficient and ­inclusive” and would “assess the citizenship test to ensure that it meets community expectations”.

Well, I expect the government work harder on Australian unity, pride and citizenship. Else China may “defend” us instead.