English language is vital for everyday life, and survival
STATEMENT
English is Australia’s official language.
Major publications, street signs, important documents and TV broadcasts, as examples, are in English. Conversations we have in the street and in business are in the vast majority conducted in English. Most importantly, emergency information is also mostly published in English.
It is undeniable that without competence in the English language, it is difficult to engage successfully and efficiently in everyday life in Australia. And, as the pandemic has revealed, shortcomings in any system manifest in heightened complications during an emergency.
Poor English skills in Melbourne meant pandemic warnings and directions were not properly followed, which helped the virus sweep through entire multicultural neighbourhoods. I was called racist and sacked from a TV role for drawing attention to this fact.
My concerns about migrants and refugees turning their backs on the English language have been raised this week by several others – including Acting Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister Alan Tudge.
The Government now also admits language barriers helped the spread of the virus. It also notes that poor English skills can foster the spread of foreign propaganda – especially if residents are reliant on a foreign language.
Tudge revealed that very few new arrivals take advantage of the free English lessons provided by the Government’s Adult Migrant English Program.
In 2006, there were 560,000 residents who didn’t know effective English. Since then, that number has almost doubled to approximately 1-million residents. That equates to one in 25 Australian residents who can’t speak English.
Tudge thinks expanding the English lessons from 510 hours over five years, currently costing taxpayers $1-billion, to unlimited lessons over an unlimited time frame will improve overall English efficiency. If new migrants won’t access at least two hours of taxpayer-funded lessons over five years, why would they commit to a longer time frame or more hours? This is the problem.
It is not the taxpayer’s responsibility to pay for them to learn English. If they chose to come to Australia, they must learn the language at their expense or otherwise find another country to live, where they can communicate.
Poor English proficiency hinders an individual’s ability to make informed voting decisions in elections. It makes someone difficult to employ and potentially locks them into receiving welfare payments. Some learner driver programs allow for people to gain their licence in their own language, which can cause problems once they venture onto the roads.
Most countries have strict language proficiency requirements, but Australia lags behind. No English proficiency should mean no citizenship or permanent residency.
In July, I said the pandemic has revealed that failure to interact in Australian culture and learn English can in fact prove fatal. Many reject our culture and common language, hence not understanding the pandemic safety message and now we see the consequences.
I also note that Governments of all persuasions have enabled this problem through multi-lingual publications. They have failed for years to genuinely promote community interaction and the need for English language proficiency.
The lesson from the pandemic is that Government needs to ramp up its expectations of all new arrivals to learn our national language – for the benefit and safety of the individual and for society as a whole.
Ignoring or denying a problem like this won’t make it go away. In fact, unless it is fixed, it will almost certainly raise its head again at some point with equal or even bigger consequences.
Senator Pauline Hanson
Leader of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation
