Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton calls for kids to recite citizenship pledge

Schoolchildren should recite the citizenship pledge in schools as part of broad overhaul of civics education, Peter Dutton has said.

Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton is seen during his appearance at the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: AAP

Schoolchildren should recite the citizenship pledge in schools as part of a broad overhaul of civics education, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has said.

The idea has been previously endorsed by Labor’s Education Spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek and Mr Dutton said he would like to see his department working with state and territory education department so children “talk more about our story, about our history and our core values”.

“In my view, there is a place for the [citizenship] pledge in a broader rejuvenated civics effort with school-aged children, regardless of their background,” Mr Dutton told the National Press Club.

But Victorian Minister for Education James Merlino has already fired back at the Home Affairs minister, and said states already teach civics.

“I won’t be taking advice from a man who doesn’t visit our schools or know anything about what is happening in Victoria,” he told The Australian.

“I visit schools right across Victoria and what I see first-hand is that Victorian kids are proud of the country they live in. We already teach civics and about the history of our country.”

Mr Dutton said he would also be putting together a new citizenship package after the government’s last package – which involved an English test and a values test for citizenship aspirants - was blocked by the Senate.

On Wednesday Mr Dutton said these steps were necessary due to the over-representation of second and third generation Australians among foreign fighters and the increasing level of foreign interference.

Ms Plibersek said late last year that all school kids should be encouraged to learn the citizenship pledge and recite it at school. “It’s something I hope to pursue if I become education minister,” she said.

The Home Affairs Minister also said the government would continue to pursue new laws to give agencies access to encrypted messages sent by terror suspects but did not detail how these laws would work.

“The government will be introducing legislative provisions which would require companies that provide communications services in Australia to provide reasonable assistance under warrant, in the context of serious criminal and national security threats,” a spokesperson for the minister said.

Mr Dutton said they would not be forcing tech companies to build a “back door” into their messaging apps, but companies have argued they do not have access to decryption keys themselves so cannot give authorities access to messages in the first place.

Mr Dutton also said in a couple of years time advances in facial recognition technology will mean airline passengers could walk off the plane and leave without showing their passports.

“For the numbers of people coming through our airports, I want them to walk seamlessly down - off the A380 and, in time, and we’re not far off this, with facial recognition on the move,” he said.

“Canberra airport at the moment which has a 90 per cent strike rate is the latest information I had. We’re probably maybe a generation - a technology generation off it, so a couple of years. It’s very close indeed,” he said.

Mr Dutton also distanced himself from the long-running investigation into Australian Border Force head Roman Quaedvlieg.

“This is not an investigation which is run by me or by my office or by the secretary of the department. This is an investigation that’s been undertaken by [Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity], which is an independent authority, in terms of their own time lines, it’s best to direct questions to them,” he said.

Mr Quaedvlieg has been on paid leave since May amid allegations he tried to intervene on behalf of his partner who applied for a job as a passport officer at Sydney Airport.

He is understood to be frustrated by the delay and to have provided all the information they have required.

Through the course of the nine-month investigation he has only requested two short extensions, The Australian understands.

Mr Dutton said sometimes “these matters are protracted” in order to make sure all evidence is considered and that all involved are afforded natural justice.

Additional reporting: Paul Maley