Mental illness may be used to deny Australian citizenship under new bill

2014/11/26 Leave a comment

The Australian equivalent of the recent changes to the Canadian Citizenship Act:

The legislation lists a number of clauses that the immigration minister can use to revoke or deny citizenship, including a pending, current or previous criminal conviction, or a court-ordered confinement to a psychiatric institution due to criminal offences.

It also states that people who have court orders to undertake a residential drug rehabilitation scheme or a residential program for the mentally ill, can be barred from becoming Australian.

The bill would expand the immigration minister’s powers in deciding who can be granted citizenship, and legislates a good character requirement for applicants.

Good character their equivalent, with all the ambiguities, of “intent to reside?”

Mental illness may be used to deny Australian citizenship under new bill | Australia news | theguardian.com.

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Australians support immigration and multiculturalism

2014/10/30 Leave a comment

CIC Tracking - Support for ImmigrationComparable to Canadian levels of support (see chart above):

The study titled 2014s Mapping Social Cohesion report by Scanlon Foundation which surveyed over 24,000 people reported strong public support for immigration intake and the benefits of multiculturalism. ”

Australia’s public sentiment toward immigration intake is possibly the most positive in the western world. In 2014, 58 per cent of people agree that the immigration intake is about right or too low. Just 35 per cent of people consider that the immigration intake is too high,” the Foundation said in a statement.

“This level of public support is somewhat surprising in the context of rising unemployment and other economic concerns, as well as international comparisons,” said report author Andrew Markus of Monash University.

“In 2014, American and European surveys have found disapproval of immigration in the range of 60 to 75 per cent,” he said.

Support for multiculturalism was also high at 85 percent (“been good for Australia”) but discrimination remains an issue with some 18 percent of respondents reporting experience of discrimination.

Australians support immigration and multiculturalism: Study – The Economic Times.

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Australia’s Parliament House Lifts Face Veil Ban – NYTimes.com

2014/10/21 Leave a comment

Update on earlier story and follow-up to PM Abbott’s expression that ban was wrong:

The announcement was made a few hours before the end of the final sitting day of Parliaments last two-week session and had no practical effect.

Hours before Parliament was to resume on Monday, the Department of Parliamentary Services, or DPS, said in a statement that people wearing face coverings would again be allowed in all public areas of Parliament House.

It said face coverings would have to be removed temporarily at the security check point at the front door so that staff could “identify any person who may have been banned from entering Parliament House or who may be known, or discovered, to be a security risk.”

“Procedures are still in place to ensure that DPS security manage these procedures in a sensitive and appropriate manner,” the statement said without elaborating.

The ban on face veils in the public galleries had been widely condemned as a segregation of Muslim women and a potential breach of federal anti-discrimination law.

Australia’s Parliament House Lifts Face Veil Ban – NYTimes.com.

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Australian PM orders crackdown on visas for radical Islamist preachers

2014/10/09 Leave a comment

Hard to argue against the obvious cases but expect some controversy or debate over borderline or less clear cases, and whether this will only be applied to radical Islamists or more broadly:

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday that he was ordering a crackdown to prevent radical Islamist preachers entering the country, amidst rising tension with the Muslim community following a series of security-related raids.

Abbott, who recently warned that the balance between freedom and security “may have to shift” to protect against radicalized Muslims seeking to carry out attacks, said hate preachers would now be “red-carded” during the visa process.

The tougher new system, which he said would not require new legislation, comes on the heels of a public meeting in Sydney last week by Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international group that says its goal is to establish a pan-national Muslim state.

Conservative commentators have seized on the speech to urge greater restrictions on radical preachers.

“What we want to do is to ensure that known preachers of hate do not come to this country to peddle their divisive extremist message,” Abbott told reporters in Sydney.

“What I’m doing is declaring that we will henceforth have a new system in place which will ensure that preachers of hate can’t come to Australia to peddle their extreme, divisive and alien ideologies.”

Australian PM orders crackdown on visas for radical Islamist preachers – The Globe and Mail.

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Islamic States call to kill westerners has terrorism experts divided | World news | theguardian.com

2014/09/25 Leave a comment

One of the better commentators putting the latest ISIS/ISIL threats into context:

Rodger Shanahan, non-resident fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy and a former army officer, told Guardian Australia the video was “not earth shattering”, as Al-Adnani has been saying this sort of thing for years, but the specific mention of Australia had caught the media’s eye.

“My view is that if you give these people oxygen it encourages them to do it more often, that’s the whole point,” said Shanahan.

“It’s a pretty good debate to have: if this had not been widely reported, would it really have amounted to anything other than security agencies noting Australia being mentioned specifically by the IS spokesperson?”

“But if you go back over the last couple of speeches there are general references to the west, the Europeans, the Christians. There’s no change of direction at all. It’s just a continuation of what he’s put out there, but nobody has paid particular attention to it in the past.”

Shanahan said that while security agencies have to take it seriously, anyone who might pay attention to the message in the video is already thinking that way.

“The utility of it in terms of attracting more recruits, I don’t think it’s of utility at all. In terms of interest because it mentions us and Canada and France, yes, it’s interesting, but it’s not an earth shattering thing.”

Islamic States call to kill westerners has terrorism experts divided | World news | theguardian.com.

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Australian PM warns of strict penalties for returning extremists

2014/09/24 Leave a comment

Interesting that the Australian PM made no mention of revoking Australian citizenship. Just punishment in Australian jails, despite earlier signs the Australian government was considering revocation (George Brandis won’t say if Australians fighting in Syria will lose citizenship):

“If you fight with a terrorist group, if you seek to return to this country, as far as this government is concerned, you will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be jailed for a very long time indeed,” Abbott told Parliament.

At least 60 Australians were fighting in Iraq and Syria with Islamic State and another al-Qaida offshoot, Jabhat al-Nursa, also known as the Nusra Front, the prime minister said.

He revealed that more than 60 Australian would-be fighters had had their passports cancelled on secret service advice to prevent them from flying to the Mideast.

Dozens of suspected fighters have already returned to Australia from the battlefields. Security agencies fear that they now pose a domestic terrorist threat.

Australian PM warns of strict penalties for returning extremists.

Unlike Canadian Minister Alexander, who declined to provide numbers on the number of Canadian passports cancelled, PM Abbott was open – 60 passports cancelled:

Outside the Commons, Alexander cited privacy and security concerns for his refusal to release numbers.

“It’s an administrative issue, it’s an operational issue,” he said in response to questions from reporters after question period.

“There are privacy considerations. We will not be saying how many have been revoked … but we have the power to do that.”

Despite a barrage of follow-up questions, Alexander held his ground and denied that he was “afraid” to give a number.

“We will uphold a longstanding practice, which is not to go into the details of operational national security matters,” he insisted.

“That’s absolutely reasonable.”

But Australia’s definition of “reasonable” in disclosing the numbers strikes me as more reasonable:

Revoking ISIS passports: Government refuses to disclose numbers

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Show us your citizenship: why the Tony Abbott birthers want to believe | Cam Smith

2014/09/10 Leave a comment

Australian left-wing conspiracy theories, just as nutty on the left and the US “birthers” on the right vis-a-vis Obama:

Why are people so willing to believe this stuff? Like the Obama birth certificate crowd, the idea that a hated politician can be brought undone without going through all the rigmarole of building a true political alternative is attractive. The proposition of Abbott facing karmic justice for the harsh nature of his government’s policies only adds to that attraction.

What is largely forgotten in the excitement is that this sort of thing can easily go both ways. If Abbott could be bundled off to the slammer for defrauding the Commonwealth in this way, why not honorary Israeli citizen Bob Hawke, or any other of the many MPs who have knowingly or unknowingly entered parliament as dual citizens over the decades.

Jello Biafra once gave some excellent advice: it’s possible to mix arthritis cream with hallucinogens and spread the resulting mixture on the doorhandles of police cars in order to dose the occupants.

He also gave some more relevant advice in 2012, at the Melbourne Festival. Appearing on a panel with The Church singer Steve Kilbey, Biafra said that rather than getting distracted by conspiracy theories about things that you couldn’t possibly hope to change, even if they were true, your time is better served by working towards more practical political goals.

Show us your citizenship: why the Tony Abbott birthers want to believe | Cam Smith | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

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Australian jihadists fighting overseas should be stripped of their citizenship | Malcolm Fraser

2014/08/20 Leave a comment

Malcolm Fraser, former Prime Minister of Australia 1975-83, advocating for citizenship revocation in cases of terrorism or fighting for foreign forces:

In Barwick’s time [1960-1], dual citizenship was rare. Today it is common. Australia would be totally justified in saying anyone who has dual citizenship will forthwith lose their Australian citizenship if they fight abroad with any other forces. Australians should only fight overseas with the Australian Armed Services. I don’t think any Australian should be able to fight in foreign wars, unless that action is supported by the Australian government. Importantly, that would preclude an Australian going to do national service in any other country.

If someone with dual citizenship wants to go overseas and fight in another country, they should then lose their Australian citizenship and have no right to return. The Australian government should do all in its power to bring such people before the International Criminal Court.

Not sure how Australian Jews would feel about such a broad definition, as it would include those fighting for the IDF.

Australian jihadists fighting overseas should be stripped of their citizenship | Malcolm Fraser | Comment is free | theguardian.com.

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Australia: Queensland gets it right on multiculturalism

2014/08/08 Leave a comment

One regional, favourable view of multiculturalism:

Most migrants and refugees to Queensland still settle in the capital city, Brisbane.

Brisbane has the highest proportion of overseas-born residents 28.3 percent, ABS census 2011, followed by the Gold Coast 27.9 per cent and Logan 26.1 per cent.

Brisbane attracts more Indians and Chinese, the Gold Coast more Japanese, while Logan attracts more Samoans. Many are international students.

Brisbane’s Lord Mayor Cr Graham Quirk said Brisbane now holds a “Refugee Welcome Day”, acknowledging that more than 2000 refugees settled in Brisbane last year and would build a new Multicultural Performing Arts Centre in Sunnybank in 2015.

“The Multicultural Performing Arts Centre will include a theatre with a capacity for 300 people, rehearsal and studio spaces for community groups, a stand-alone kitchen and canteen as well as dining and entertainment facilities,” Cr Quirk said.“

Council has invested $3.9 million in 2014-15 for this combined facility which we will build with the Sunnybank Community Sports Club,” he said.“

And it will benefit the entire southside community once it is complete.”

Queensland gets it right on multiculturalism.

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Baby Gammy, whose parents left him with Thai surrogate mom, may still be eligible for Australian citizenship

2014/08/06 Leave a comment

The complications arising from surrogacy in the case of the Australian couple who didn’t accept their child with Down’s syndrome. Apart from the broader moral issues involved, the citizenship aspects are of interest:

Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told Sydney Radio 2GB on Monday that Pattaramon “is an absolute hero” and “a saint,” adding that the law surrounding the case “is very, very murky.”

“We are taking a close look at what can be done here, but I wouldn’t want to raise any false hopes or expectations,” Morrison said. “We are dealing with something that has happened in another country’s jurisdiction.”

Morrison’s office later said in a statement that “the child may be eligible for Australian citizenship,” without elaborating.

Australian citizens are entitled to free health care in Australia.

In Sri Racha on Sunday, Pattaramon said that she was not angry with the biological parents for leaving Gammy behind, and that she hoped they would take care of the boy’s twin sister they took with them.

“I’ve never felt angry at them or hated them. I’m always willing to forgive them,” Pattaramon told The Associated Press. “I want to see that they love the baby girl as much as my family loves Gammy. I want her to be well taken care of.”Pattaramon was promised 300,000 baht $9,300 by a surrogacy agency in Bangkok, Thailand’s capital, to be a surrogate for the Australian couple, but she has not been fully paid since the children were born last December.

If I recall correctly, for a surrogate baby born abroad to be eligible for Canadian citizenship, the genetic material from one of the parents must be Canadian (see Couple fights federal surrogacy policy to bring their boy back to Canada).

Baby Gammy, whose parents left him with Thai surrogate mom, may still be eligible for Australian citizenship.

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