"To speak English is necessary if the migrant wants employment, there is no way he/she will get an Australian job without it."

I wonder how many of the migrants that built to Snowy Hydro could speak english?

I note the London bombers were English and spoke english as their mother tongue

A percentage of the muslim population hold extremist views, about 3%. So 1 in 33.333 Australian muslims want an Islamic state. In other words, Australia has thousands of bloodthirsty Islamic extremists already.

I guess the case of the London bombers forces us to ask ourselves: do we really want these lunatics living amongst us? I heard (on the grapevine) that the plan was set the bombs off in the Subway under the Thames river, weaken the structures and drown thousands of people. Fortunately that plan failed. These are no ordinary street thugs. This is internationally backed terrorism, whose lifeblood is globalisation. Speaking English allows efficent communication, and breaks down barriers.

What the government should do is halve the immigration intake, so that each applicant is thoroughly scrutinised. The probabilty of administration error is halved. And the possibilty of an attack will cease.

So what if there are some crazy people who don't have English as their first language? As far as I understand, Martin Bryant, the Snowtown murderers, and Ivan Milat all were native English speakers... crazy is not confined to those who are "other".

I do not think speaking English should be a messure of worth I however do think understanding Australian ways and our right to them should be.
From within the Muslim world the answers to growing concerns generated by small numbers is to be found.
Constant outbusts like the one against the Catholic churchs head is unhelpfull.
I hope to hear the voice of this great relidgion raised to question these actions as often as such actions take place.

In years gone by the official language of diplomacy, what was known as Lingua Franca, or French, these days it seems to be English.

To not speak English these days it to be functionally illiterate in the broader world.

To not WANT to be able to speak English, in an English speaking country, to which someone decides to migrate or come as a refugee is simply silly.

Everyone should be encouraged to TRY and speak the language. If you can't do it because you are too old or simply have no flair for languages fine! I can understand trying and failing.

What I do NOT understand, is not trying, or worse still, calling someone a racist for suggesting that a requirement of citizenship should be an ability to speak the language of the country that a person has chosen to migrate to and settle in to at least a basic degree.

The point of difference, Laurie, is neither Martin Bryant or Ivan Milat or the Snowtown murderers were backed by international criminals. They are isolated cases and operate within limited capacity. They can only kill on a small scale. Islamists can literally kill thousands innocent civilians in a matter of minutes.

Learning English is a good indicator of how much people want to live here. People that want to live here are less likely to want to harm us.