Transcript of Doorstop: Citizenship test, John Howard's gaffe
TRANSCRIPT
TONY BURKE MP
Member for Watson
Shadow Minister for Immigration, Integration and Citizenship
TRANSCRIPT OF DOORSTOP, Parliament House, Canberra
WEDNESDAY 7 FEBRUARY, 2007
Subject: Citizenship test, John Howard's gaffe
E& OE PROOF ONLY
TONY BURKE: There are some more reports in the paper today about the Government citizenship test and I thought it was important just to bring people up to date on the original conversations that Labor had with the Government about the issue.
The day that it was announced, Kevin Rudd made it clear to the media that I would be writing to Andrew Robb to find out if Labor could have a copy of the proposed test, a copy of the 200 questions that the test was going to be based on, and a copy of the document from which those questions were drawn.
The answer that we finally got back from the Government, in what would have been one of the last letters that Andrew Robb wrote in that portfolio, was to say that they haven’t designed the test, they haven’t designed any of the 200 questions, nor have they written the book from which it will be based.
Labor’s position continues to be very straightforward on this, which is that it is possible to design a reasonable citizenship test. Exactly where you set the benchmark will determine whether it’s reasonable or not and we’re still waiting to see what the Government has on that.
JOURNALIST: If you had a day like yesterday every day of the year parliamentary-sitting-wise, you’d be a happy man wouldn’t you?
TONY BURKE: Well certainly, it was a good day for us. Kevin was able to put out his ideas and his vision, particularly on the issue of climate change. The astonishing thing yesterday was the mistakes from John Howard. John Howard is a very clever politician, but two years ago you never saw him making mistakes like that.
JOURNALIST: Is that a sign that he is under pressure, specifically on the climate change issue?
TONY BURKE: I have to say, I don’t know what it is. He’s a very clever politician, but certainly yesterday he was making mistakes that a couple of years ago you never would have seen from John Howard.
JOURNALIST: So what would you attribute that to?
TONY BURKE: I don’t know, I don’t know. It surprised me.
JOURNALIST: Do you think he misheard the question or do you think he answered in line with his true feelings on climate change?
TONY BURKE: I genuinely don’t know. As I say, he’s a very clever politician. But a couple of years ago, the John Howard of old did not make mistakes like that.
ENDS.
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