Derek McDowell (Labour)

Like Senator Norris I agree with almost everything the Minister said but he did not address the net point of the amendment at any great length. He says that we want to provide citizenship for children where there is a "proven long-term commitment" and the main criterion for assessing that is that they have been here for three years. People who have been here for three years, even if two were spent in the asylum system, have proved a long-term commitment, if that is the criterion on which this is based. The Minister must make a cogent argument for discounting a period during which people were resident here particularly if it is subsequently found that they were refugees.

People come here and either are or are not refugees. That we take two years to acknowledge the fact does not mean they were not refugees for the first two years. It is because of our administrative system that we take a couple of years to confirm and acknowledge that. We are only seeking application of the principle the Minister set out, namely, that three years residency is the basis on which we acknowledge that people have a long-term commitment to the country.

I did not know one could apply for naturalisation three years after one has been recognised as a refugee. Is that application treated in the same way as one based on residence for non-refugees would be treated or is there a requirement, for example, to establish that there is still a threat to someone if he or she were to return to his or her country? Must that person go through the process of establishing his or her bona fides as a refugee all over again in order to sustain an application for naturalisation?