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Is ‘E an Aussie, Is ‘E Lizzie? Is ‘E an Aussie is ‘E, Eh?

By Terence Mills

In case you’re not up to date on the eligibility of our elected members to sit in our parliament due to section 44 constitutional doubts on their dual citizenship, I’ll try and bring you up to date.

The timetable agreed at Labor’s insistence was for all parliamentarians to provide their citizenship details by Friday 1 December. So they all have to submit documentary evidence confirming that they are not dual citizens by Friday and they will start being considered during the parliamentary sitting week commencing Monday 4 December, which happens to be the same week that the House of Representatives will consider the Marriage Equality Bill now that it has passed the Senate; it may also be the final sitting week after the scheduled sitting week for the House of Representatives which had been due on 27 November was cancelled.

You may recall that the cancellation of the sitting week of 27 November was to avoid the numbers going against the government on a private members Bill to hold a Royal Commission into banks and financial institutions – that didn’t work out so well, did it?

I’m anticipating some high-jinks next week as elected members start giving excuses about why they haven’t done their homework ranging from the usual ‘the dog ate it’ to ‘it’s Shanghai Sam’s fault’ [as it seems is everything else at this point in time]. Incidentally, I understand that a letter from your Mum stating that you are dinky-die will not be acceptable, neither will proof of membership of the Argonauts Club but it’s getting close.

Pauline Hanson has been unusually proactive and forthright in getting her paperwork sorted out with the UK Visas & Immigration people in England and I have no doubt that she will be demanding that her fellow parliamentarians do likewise and for once, I agree with her. However, having seen Murphy’s law in action in Canberra before I think you will find that quite a few of our elected elite will fail to meet the deadline or will submit old bus tickets and such like hoping nobody notices.

This is Pauline’s evidence and I will be watching closely next week to seek similar evidence published as it comes to hand but I have a feeling that there will be attempts to obfuscate and despite what Christopher Pyne said, it is unlikely that it will suit the government to extend the parliamentary year to include the week of 11 December.

13 comments

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  1. ERIC L WATKINSON

    It is my understanding that all persons of Jewish descent, worldwide, have the right to claim Israeli citizenship. If this is so, would these persons have to renounce this right in order to to stand for political office under section 44? Hoping someone can enlighten me, this would include Turnbull and Frydenberg.

  2. Freethinker

    Interesting new development, The Labor MP David Feeney appears bound for the high court after being unable to determine his citizenship status under UK law.
    In a country with a multicultural population it is going to be interesting in the future how many candidates will qualify to be our representatives.
    This situation become a joke.

  3. Paul Davis

    What a shambles! 44 gallon drum of worms…. latest count up to 14 possibles and NOT just from those great unwashed on the grubby left side of politics, though no one in the media, not even the ABC, have suggested that any of the LNP might have a problem. I guess the high court will so hold, again…

  4. Freethinker

    Four ALP are in trouble, Josh Wilson, Justine Keay, David Feeney and Susan Lamb.
    Lamb has a marginal seat and Keay as well.
    Next year this will be a good test to see if Turnbull’s “buying votes” with the reduction of income taxes will work.

  5. Kaye Lee

    The hit list on the Turnbull government benches includes Jason Falinski, Ross Vasta, Nola Marino, Julia Banks, Alex Hawke, Michael McCormack and potentially cabinet minister Josh Frydenberg and Senator Arthur Sinodinos.

    While Labor’s list includes David Feeney, Justine Keay, Susan Lamb and Josh Wilson as well as Katy Gallagher in the Senate.

    Nick Xenophon Team MP Rebekha Sharkie’s eligibility is also in doubt.\

    https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/12/05/four-labor-mps-caught-dual-citizenship-saga-register-made-public

    It seems with the Labor people who are in doubt, they filed the forms to renounce citizenship but processing time meant they did not receive confirmation before nominations closed.

    For example, Senator Gallagher, the former ACT chief minister, did not receive confirmation of her UK citizenship renunciation until two months after nominations closed for the 2016 federal election and 118 days after she lodged the application.

    Barnaby just rang the NZ high commissioner on the weekend and got verbal confirmation followed by written confirmation two days later. Not everyone can pull strings like that.

  6. Matters Not

    Seems to me that the broader political power play is all about the judicial arm (of government) forcefully reminding the legislative and executive branches that the doctrine of the Separation of Powers is alive and well.

    To date he High Court seems to proceed on the principle that INTENTIONS are a lesser beast than OUTCOMES. An unusual twist. But certainly a defensible one. Shorten is looking like a goose.

  7. Freethinker

    As you all are aware,yesterday, was the last date wen the federal MP has to show that they do not have dual citizenship.
    An article on the media, Barton Linda Burney, expressed her difficulties in went trough because she said, quote:
    “The reason why there are no documents and birth certificates is because we were not considered citizen in this country” end of quote
    How can this be possible? This is appalling IMHO.

  8. Joseph Carli

    Freethinker…In the 2ndWW., when the Italians were interned, one man who was brought down from Katherine in the NT. approached my grandmother who was trained in Ireland as a legal secretary, and asked her if she could help him with a situation back at his farm, where he owned a small farm and was married to an aboriginal woman, but because he was classified as an enemy alien, and his wife being aboriginal was not allowed to own land as she was not considered a citizen, his foreman and another official in the town were trying to confiscate ownership of his farm on the grounds that neither he nor his wife were legally permitted to own land.

    My grandmother ( it is said) wrote a “legalese” letter in her most perfect hand advising something or other in the defence of the Italian to halt proceedings…How it went for the chap and his aboriginal wife no-one knows..but that is an example of how desperate it was..

  9. Joseph Carli

    An even sadder case involving Albert Namatjira was that when he started to make a living from his art and wanted to buy a house in Alice Springs, he was forbidden by the govt’ because there was a curfew on indigenous people in the town after 7pm…But when there was such an outcry from the “bleeding hearts” he (being the ONLY indigenous person in the country at the time with granted citizenship) was permitted..BUT..and here is the vicious side of racism from the Liberal Party..but only Albert and his wife were able to stay in the house and the town after the curfew time…all their children had to leave the town limits..

  10. Freethinker

    The sad reality Joe, is that we it has been done very little to improve the racism in Australia, nothing to be proud about it.

  11. Freethinker

    I would not put the blame alone on the Liberal party because the ALP also have many opportunities to reverse this situation.

  12. Joseph Carli

    ” I would not put the blame alone on the Liberal party because the ALP also…” …I don’t want to go there Free”T”… 🙁

  13. Freethinker

    When this will stop? it appears the up to 13 MPs are in doubt including the Liberals Jason Falinski, Ross Vasta, Nola Marino, Julia Banks, Alex Hawke, Arthur Sinodinos and Michael McCormack.

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