Comments on: Can you spot the trick citizenship test question?

By: Gummo Trotsky

Gummo Trotsky — Sun, 20 May 2007 11:41:40 +0000

Trouble is Shaun, I’m not sure who done the dudding.

That’s why I’m looking forward to Media Watch tomorrow night (or maybe next week)…

By: steve at the pub

steve at the pub — Sun, 20 May 2007 11:05:25 +0000

Yes, I thought the questions seemed to be lacking in the gravitas one would expect from a citizenship questionnaire.

I expected something more like the existing Canadian quiz. http://www.yourlibrary.ca/citizenship/

By: Shaun

Shaun — Sun, 20 May 2007 10:32:16 +0000

So we’ve been dudded. Just file your thoughts away for when the issue comes up again.

By: steve at the pub

steve at the pub — Sun, 20 May 2007 08:47:03 +0000

If any Australian scored less than 18/20 on that test, they are thick. Plenty are.

Amazingly, several prospective citizens, each of more than five years continuous residency and white collar workers, have been hard pressed to score 3/20.

By: Unsilenced

Unsilenced — Sun, 20 May 2007 07:37:26 +0000

The government decided it couldn’t use these questions when they gave the test to the members of parliament and half of them failed.

By: Gummo Trotsky

Gummo Trotsky — Sun, 20 May 2007 06:56:35 +0000

Well, on this topic, so were NinMSN and various other MSM organisations Oigal.

Appropriate name for a troll BTW.

By: Oigal

Oigal — Sun, 20 May 2007 06:41:22 +0000

“We’ve all been had”

Laugh…The left has been had for the last 150 years..

By: Gummo Trotsky

Gummo Trotsky — Sun, 20 May 2007 05:02:19 +0000

We've all been had, apparently.

By: Tyro Rex

Tyro Rex — Sun, 20 May 2007 04:14:59 +0000

JPZ: actually the test should be a recital of the lyrics of either “Jailbreak”, “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” or “Can I Sit Next To You Girl?” followed by a air-guitar demonstration of Angus’ techniques. Can’t get more Judeo-Christian Aussie Values than that.

By: Tyro Rex

Tyro Rex — Sun, 20 May 2007 04:12:45 +0000

jpz; when they say “Judeo-Christian values” they actually mean “White Anglo-Saxon Protestant”. The give-away is the fact that “Catholicism” is one of the other answers (i.e. in contrasting Judeo-Christianity to Catholicism and the rest of the “wrong” answers). It also ignores the fact that institutionally, Australia is a secular state (another one of the answers).

Yes, and of course I have a Judeo-Christian outlook; I’m a white Anglo-Irish Protestant, but only to the point that culture helped spawn the North-Western European Enlightenment – a description I would regard as more accurate than any answer given in the questionnaire.

By: skribe

skribe — Sun, 20 May 2007 03:28:36 +0000

jpz: African or European?

By: Misty

Misty — Sun, 20 May 2007 00:59:20 +0000

So glad I don’t have to deal with this cluster-flock. June 10, I will be a citizen, no inane questions needed!

By: Ken Lovell

Ken Lovell — Sat, 19 May 2007 23:46:45 +0000

Another question asks about the form of government – two alternatives being ‘a monarchy’ and ‘a parliamentary democracy’. The latter is the ‘correct’ answer.

I hope someone tells the Parliamentary Education office, which is still misleading kiddies into believing that ‘Australia is a constitutional monarchy’.

By: Andyc

Andyc — Sat, 19 May 2007 14:31:24 +0000

And on another note entirely, since Little Johnny is likely to have problems with the correct answers for the “Head of State” and “Values” questions, what are the odds that he can get enough answers wrong to qualify him to be thrown out of the country?

By: Andyc

Andyc — Sat, 19 May 2007 13:13:30 +0000

I've already said why I think the "Judaeo-Christian" bit is inappropriate and wrong, here.

By: suz

suz — Sat, 19 May 2007 12:59:54 +0000

Australia, like all Western countries, has a value system deeply rooted in Christian values and tradition.

Exactly where is it and how is this so? Can you please point to this Australian value system and demonstrate that it is Christian.

By: Appu

Appu — Sat, 19 May 2007 09:16:18 +0000

So j_p_z

Being only little and new here in this Jewish Christian land of ours, what is it in the Ramayana that you feel does not fit in to Australian values? What about the Jewish and Christian values of Australia (yeah right) is in dissonance with the values espoused in the Ramayana?

By: Graeme

Graeme — Sat, 19 May 2007 09:14:24 +0000

‘Our’ values are ‘Judeo-Christian’? Manning Clark could live with that: But it shows that when it suits them, the govt ignores the history book of Aussie exceptionalism it otherwise wants to thrust down every child’s gullet. From convict settlement through gold rushes and on through Gallipoli there’s been an essentially secular ethic at play.

By: Christine Keeler

Christine Keeler — Sat, 19 May 2007 07:32:18 +0000

Just to remind you I only reproduced it. Helen is the genius who wrote it http://larvatusprodeo.net/2007/05/18/friday-focus-thingie-2/#comment-368015

By: Tony

Tony — Sat, 19 May 2007 07:25:11 +0000

I loved it the first time, Christine, and I still love it now.

Only on Q18 – it was a half yard