Little did I know when I appeared in front of a Senate committee last week that I would be at the centre of a national controversy about loyalty tests.

I appeared at the Inquiry into Issues Facing Diaspora Communities to present research I had done earlier this year about the representation of culturally and linguistically diverse people in Australian politics. Despite our cultural diversity, Australia does far worse when it comes to representation than other Westminster democracies like the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.