Pathway to Australian citizenship should be reviewed: Peter Dutton

Source: SBS, 14/11/2018

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has said the Government should
review the Australia citizenship pathway, in the wake of last week’s
attack in Melbourne.
“We should look at the way in which people are on a pathway to
citizenship. I have been very open about the cancellation of visas.
The numbers have ramped up because there are some people who shouldn’t
go on to become Australian citizens,” Mr Dutton said on Sunday.
“The law applies very differently to somebody who has Australian
citizenship either by conferral or by birth as opposed to somebody who
is here on a temporary status because they are a holder of a
particular visa category,” he added.
On Friday, 30-year-old Hassan Khalif Shire Ali was shot dead after
setting fire to his ute that contained gas bottles, in Melbourne`s CBD
and stabbed a local restaurant owner to death. The incident was
declared a terrorist attack.
Mr Dutton said there are lessons to be learnt from the incident and
the government is looking to tighten up the laws. But he said the
Government’s attempts at passing those laws have been unsuccessful.
“There are a couple of important Bills around citizenship where we
have been knocked back,” Mr Dutton told Sunrise program on Monday.
“There are different ways in which we can tighten the laws up and we
are looking at them right now. But again we need to get it through the
Senate but so far we haven’t been able to get the support of Labor or
the Greens which we need in the Senate to make it work,” he said.
The Government’s proposed citizenship Bill that included a stand-alone
English language test, enhanced general residence requirement,
Australian values test and enhanced powers to the Immigration minister
in matters of citizenship was removed from the Senate notice paper in
October last year due to a combined opposition by Labor, the Greens
and some crossbench senators.
The Government hasn’t brought back the Bill to Parliament despite its
intention of having it passed during the spring sitting.
Mr Dutton, in his media conference on Sunday, also called on the
Federal opposition to support the Government’s legislation that would
allow agencies access encrypted messaging services.