A controversial Muslim western Sydney councillor is pushing for a free new TAFE course to help immigrants pass their citizenship tests.
Cumberland City Councillor Ahmed Ouf, a pharmacist who recently attacked Australia Day despite being allowed to migrate from Egypt, said his proposed course would not cost ratepayers a cent as it would be provided by the NSW Government.
Mr Ouf said many residents of Cumberland, which at the time of the 2021 Census was just 39.7% Australian-born with 73.4% speaking a foreign language at home, found the citizenship exam “extremely overwhelming” and needed help to pass.
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“Countless people call Cumberland home, they live here, they even eat kebab here, but some of them, they don’t feel they belong, because they do not yet have their citizenship,” he said in a video posted on his social media accounts.
“They see other family members with their citizenship, and they feel like they are left out. For some of them, the citizenship exam is something extremely overwhelming, and there’s lots of factors that can contribute to that.
“I have a motion for next meeting, there’s no financial burden on us as a council and ratepayers, and the motion is simple – to go and partner with TAFE NSW in order to come up with a course that can help those who are struggling to pass the citizenship exam.”
Mr Ouf’s call comes after Opposition leader Angus Taylor promised to cut welfare benefits for permanent residents while also encouraging immigrants to become citizens.
Data from 2024 found that one in three immigrants who took the short multiple-choice citizenship test failed, with the pass rate falling 20 points from 87% after an Australian values component was added.
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Mr Ouf, who ran as an independent in last year’s federal election with the endorsement of a Muslim voting bloc organisation, sparked outrage in January when he posted two videos attacking Australia Day, calling the colonisation of the country a “holocaust”, and saying January 26 should not be celebrated.
While running for parliament in the seat of Blaxland, which at the time of the 2021 Census was majority foreign-born and 31.7% Muslim, Mr Ouf said Canberra needed “someone with an accent”.
“You need someone with dark skin, an immigrant, someone from a minority, who is independent and can speak freely, in Canberra, representing this area,” Mr Ouf said.
Then in August he made headlines for a loud council meeting clash with Labor’s Diane Colman over an Easter event, in which he told her to “shut up when I’m talking”.
Ms Colman later said it looked like a case of “extreme misogyny”, but Mr Ouf calling that a “mischaracterisation” and said he never meant to disrespect Ms Colman or “make any comments based on gender, race, or religion”.
Header image: Ahmed Ouf in his video (Instagram).
