The Australian government has released a draft document detailing a new citizenship test that people looking to emigrate to Australia will have to pass. A score of 12 out of the 20 questions (which come from a pool of 200) will be required.
The values upon which the hopeful candidate will be tested include: respect for the equal worth, dignity, and freedom of the individual; freedome of speech and religion; freedom of association; and tolerance, mutual respect and compassion.
A quirk of the new test, will that it will also test the candidate's knowledge of "mateship". Although I've heard the word tossed about, I've never had a firm grasp of what it actually meant...until I sought it out from Wikipedia:
Mateship can be defined as the code of contact, particularly between men, although more recently also between men and women, stressing egalitarianism, equality, loyalty and friendship.
After first reading about this test of a candidates knowledge of "mateship" I may have rolled my eyes. But after reviewing the definition, maybe it's not a bad idea for people looking to emigrate to Australia to learn how fellow Australians would treat each other.
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