whenever these tests are put forward, whether for australia, uk, us or anywhere else, they always say more about the narrow-mindedness of the idiots framing the questions than they could of any prospective immigrant. there are plenty of good aussies who don't give a toss about sport or history. as others have noted, it is far more important to be law-abiding and share the values of the adopting country (and not the hobbies of its most pompous buffoons).

jem, london, uk

This is very similar to the UK citizenship test. As with all things of this nature, the actual 'citizens' of the country in question, find some of the questions absurd and laughable. Being a British citizen and having worked in immigration, I marvelled at the absurdity of the questions on the UK equivalent test, when I got them wrong. Not becuase I am not patriotic or don't have a good head on my shoulders but because some of the questions were ridiculous! One wonders how migrants can be expected to get the answers right if the the majority of the population cannot. Who makes up these questions?!

CB, Wilts, UK

From a Pommie persective; Howard is right in that if you make Australia your home then you need to embrace its values and make an effort to be Australian. In the UK we have a situation where people come and then demand that British society change to suit "back home" which being stupid and politicaly correct we do. Australia has something special and you should protect it, Britain really is in the toilet now. You have been warned.

roger kingston, york,

I love the idea! If you are committing yourself to a country then you SHOULD know about it!! I am an Aussie wanna be after spending 6 weeks there before. I would love to follow the steps of my friend who lives their now as a full citizen and I will once I finish serving my sentence to my corporate master in the USA. I am studying already!

Dale, Dover, DE

r.l.b. richards, beaumont , nsw australia

hear hear, you should see some of the battler's paper's comments have to say about all this like for example daily telegraph in sydney.

It all shows a clear distinction to what kind of people reads what paper. This is also the reason why I never read the telegraph because its written for people with simple minds to put it nicely.

anyway back to the test, on first inspection I can answer four, lets deport me!!! honestly, i know many home breed and grown aussies that will have a hard time answering all them, let alone all of them inbreads that showed up at the cornulla riots.

deport them all

Eddie, Blakehurst, NSW

At least this goes some way to making immigrants become better citizens unlike the British version.
Want a council house, plead homelessness
working on the black market
coming in illegally
criminal record undeclared
claiming benefits
got kids to send family allowance back home too
cant speak the langauge
know nothing of our culture or traditions
send the bulk of your earnings back home
fly any flag except a British/English one
decry our society and say you want to turn it into what it is you left behind.
WELCOME
You will be of great benefit to our country as soon as I send you to Croydon on your own you can leg it and be swallowed up in the crowd and you can be certain we will do very little to find you.
Try doing this in Australia or any other country where you have to obtain a visa and prove yourself worthy of becoming a citizen

j. cox, London, England

Diversity?? Cricket is a little insect. This truly is a sign of the small minds 'leading' our country.

Una & Piers Hammick

piers Hammick, adamstown, nSW

5th generation Australian. i love Australia because it is my home - not because it is right and good or because we play sport or because of mateship. Australians range from decent caring people to racist bigots neither of which makes them less or more Australian.
The test is a farce. It rejects the values that I as an Australian hold closest. No test, or written document can prove the qualities that make me an Australian (citizen). People will love us or Australia because we care about them - not require some sort of absurd proof.

Grant, Adelaide, South Australia

In this sample of qualifying test questions there is one crucial ingredient missing. Try as I might I couldnt find the words COMMIT or COMMITMENT anywhere. Have they got their priorities right?

A Holmes, Auckland, NZ

Aussie aussie aussie

i got all the answers right, and they say youths today don't know there australian history, strewth mate i'm 17 and love this country being an aussie isn't about a piece of paper it's about loving this country and it's people not some comercialised version of mate ship and knowledge the government has imposed.

sure if you love this country you'll be willing to study up if not well i'm sorry you can't get accepted but someone who loves this country the way i do will study hard to get in

alex, adelaide, south australia

What fun! I knew the answers to all the questions, but that only tells you that I was a bright kid who grew up in Oz and collected stamps...
Australia would distinguish itself as a real grown-up country if it concentrated its citizenship tests on recognition of universal human rights, respect for the environment and tolerance of diversity. It won't do it by pulling together a ragbag of bits of inconsequential history, obeisances to national obsessions and self-serving myths.
but then, a man'd have to be a right sort of a dingo to rat on his mates!

Chris, CANTERBURY,

The test should be based at least 90% on our culture. Mateship should be revived as it was a better part of our culture. It should promote respect for others which is a dieing part of our culture. It should not include useless dates (apart from Australia Day.)or people’s names .

John Kowalski, rockhampton, Qld

One tires of the ceaseless propaganda and tricks of politicians, trying to convince themselves [they have given up with us] that they are doing a good job. All citizenship tests that I have seen are nothing more than a collection of foolish questions with a mix of historical facts and meaningless statements as their intended correct answers. They have NOTHING to do with how immigrants relate to the country of immigration, and most of the natives of the country would fail the tests. POLITICAL PROPAGANDA describes them accurately.

Martin Baldwin-Edwards, Athens, Greece

Considering the federal government had to run a media campaign to inform Australians who the first Prime Minister was is it really a good idea to be asking potential migrants this redundant question?

Chris, Toowoomba, Australia

I have been citizen of this country for well over 30 years. I have contributed through hard work, paying exorbitant taxes, doing community work and generally being a law respecting person but I dont's share P.M.'s obsession with cricket cricket,horse racing or AFL , I don't think Bradman was a saint and I happen to think that one olympic gold medalist is worth more then all the "footie" stars pooled together. Has Mr. Howard ever helped his neighbor to build a driveway? Why PM's private obsessions and ideas be a basis for citizenship? What is "mateship" anyway? Millions of migrants that have not shared P.M.'s values and have used the word "mate" only in jest have build this country and made it into what it is now. A lot of them still struggle with English language but they have contributed nevertheless.

ted Pawlowski, gold coast,

How about this for a values test: Do you agree to obey the law? When you disagree with the law, do you agree to pursue change of it through legal and political channels (as opposed to violence)? Do you agree that the same laws which protect you also protect other people, including people whose lifestyles you don't always agree with? Do you agree that the adult relatives who live with you, or that you bring over, have the same rights as you do? If the answer to any of these questions is no, it might be better for all (including yourself) if you returned to your homeland.

Michael, Pueblo, Colorado, US

To r.l.b. richards, beaumont , nsw australia, what should make you "cringe with embarresment" is the fact that you can't spell embarrassment!

emma, melbourne, australia

It only makes sense that if you want to become Australian you should know something about the country (history, basic facts, etc).

Mitch Sprague, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

John Howard's attempt to give 'mateship' a constitutional dimension is a transparent attempt to play to the self-delusions of middle Australia, which still clings to a view of itself as being a nation of laconic pioneers with their attendent values. Perceived as a particularly ennobling species of (largely male) friendship, mateship may well describe the bonds of interdependence forged by the early settlers and revived so heroically at Gallipoli and Kakoda. But fifty years on, mateship is just an excuse for groups of men of any stripe caught behaving badly. The only way it hasn't fundamentally changed is that it is still classless. Thus the collapse of companies like One-Tel and GIO was attributed to mateship gone awry rather than cronyism, and the behaviour of the mobs at Bondi and Maroubra two was defended as mateship rather than raw racism. Australia is a culture of denial, and nobody knows that better - and has exploited that knowledge more efficiently - than Mr Howard.

simon collins, New York, USA

Ingrid is right - these questions should be relevant to Australians at the present. A quick poll of my office shows that no one knew the first PM, and many didn't know the year of federation. Questions need to be current!

megan, cannonvale, qld

oh dear!

D O'Gorman, Liverpool, UK

the inmates are incharge of the alylum

paul, adelaide, sa

What about the average Aussies born and bred here? Take a random sample on the street and ask them these questions. I'll bet that a majority would fail miserably. Does that make them less Australian? Should we confiscate their passports and get them to pass the test? Integration into a society is a more complex issue than just remembering a few facts. Part of it comes from the efforts of the society as a whole to embrace newcomers and help integrate them into our society. Despite us proclaiming that our nation is a wonderful example of multiculturalism, the truth is that Australia is still inherently racist - How else would you explain Pauline Hanson getting so much media coverage?

Michael Ash, Sydney , Australia

I too am very concerned about the value system of new immigrants (eg. read "America Alone" by Mark Steyn for a biased but thought-provoking analysis of the Islamic problem). But your values test is far too parochial.

I have a PhD, dear friends who became Australians, dual US and Canadian citizenship, am a keen student of history, current affairs, and ethics, and follow world news closely. I am honest, hard-working, knowledgeable, make a good "mate". Yet I cannot answer a single one of the questions. Does this mean I would not make a good Australian?

How about "Do you think women are equal to men?" "Do you think honour killings are sometimes justified, and if so when?" "Is there a God? If so, where does it rank in the hierarchy of governments?"

Harold Welch, Clandeboye, Canada

i live in Australia and always have and i don't even know half those things. what hope for the hopeful traveller...

Emma , Kingston, Australia

I agree with the citizenship test provided everybody must take it. People who fail the test should be deported to Nauru.

Steve Green, Canberra, ACT

Forget the FIRST prime minister - who is the PRESENT one!? That's much more relevant. This should not be a history test. The statements in the article smack of opinion and what others think about cricket of all things. Who cares who won and why. We better be careful here - we don't want to 'create' a culture that we don't have, and heaven help us if the poiticians create one for us!!!

Ingrid Kennedy, Rockhampton, Queensland Australia

Speaking as a fifth generation Australian of

Scots .English and german descent whose first

forebear arrived here in 1810 , this test along

with numerous other examples of so-called

national identity, makes me cringe with

embarresment.

r.l.b. richards, beaumont , nsw australia

It is so very well to know all the above to become an Australian citizen however, the most important thing is that migrants who aspire to be naturalized should pledge a life of decency and considerations for the australian way of life now and the future. It would not be a crime if you don't know much of Australia's history.

paul cacciattolo, melbourne, australia