Dual Citizenship Crisis - s 44(i)

[regan is true fullback]

What about all those who think that Australia is a suburb of London - the CWA, David Flint, the ABC and the Liberal Party of Australia?

And what about all those who think that Australia is a suburb of Los Angeles - all employees of channels 7, 9 and 10 and the Liberal Party of Australia?

Will the court look askance at the geographically challenged?

[David]

How have we all overlooked this?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austral ... nality_law

Australian citizenship didn't exist until 1948. Let that sink in. This law about politicians not having allegiances to 'foreign powers', enshrined in the constitution, predates the very notion of Australian citizenship by nearly fifty years. A period of time during which Barnaby was born, like every other Australian, as a British subject! Yet we can only apparently change it via a referendum. How ridiculous is this?

[Pies4shaw]

You can't have Parliamentarians who owe allegiance to a foreign power. They should renounce any other nationality or take the best practical steps, where the other country won't recognise renunciation of its nationality.

It isn't hard. If they can't attend to this, they probably aren't fit to have a driver's licence or drink alcohol and they're scarcely fit to govern. How low should our expectations be?

[HAL]

If you say so.

[stui magpie]

You can't have Parliamentarians who owe allegiance to a foreign power. They should renounce any other nationality or take the best practical steps, where the other country won't recognise renunciation of its nationality.

It isn't hard. If they can't attend to this, they probably aren't fit to have a driver's licence or drink alcohol and they're scarcely fit to govern. How low should our expectations be?

Agreed. it becomes more tricky when the person was born here and has foreign citizenship bestowed on them by descent by the laws of a foreign country. It's correct IMO to refer it to the high court as the argument would be that having been born here he owes no allegiance to a foreign power, whether they consider him a citizen or not.

apparently, the argument to the high court would be that if people didn't know they were a citizen of a foreign power, they couldn't possibly have divided loyalties, which would also work for the 2 green senators.

[ronrat]

This used to happen in the 70s when kids of certain countries like Greece went to visit grandparents etc and got grabbed at the airport to do National Service.

And what of the jewish kids who go to do a stint in the Israel Defence Force and then return to Australia to continue with their lives.I lived in Caulfield North it happened all the time. Should they be banned from serving in any council or government? A dear friend of mine now dead raised this at a Glen Eira council meeting and got a letter from Michael Danby branding her antisemetic. Go and fight for ISIL and you can lose citizenship and be jailed.

[Pies4shaw]

They're not barred from anything - they just have to take whatever steps they can to dissociate themselves from the foreign power. There are, eg, people of Greek descent in the Parliament. The obligation is to reject allegiance to a foreign power, not to lose an unloseable citizenship.

[Tannin]

Yep, it's a stupid rule, but notice the difference between the two Greens who found out about it, outed themselves, and took it on the chin, as compared to the two Liberal/National slimeballs who had to be outed by others and even now are doing their very best to evade the law.

[stui magpie]

The two Greens were both born overseas so should have at least checked, the two lib/nats were both born here. Slight difference.

[Wokko]

1.What you need to know

If you were born overseas and at least 1 of your parents is a New Zealand citizen by birth or grant, you can register as an NZ citizen by descent and get an NZ passport.

Did he ever register or is this some kind of automatically granted prize that you don't even know you've got?

[stui magpie]

^

In the case of Joyce, his dad was born there so by NZ law he is an automatic citizen.

I've been to NZ a couple of times, maybe I should check if that makes me a citizen.

[Pies4shaw]

It's really not necessary to check, unless you aspire to be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament, in which case working out whether or not you are a New Zealand or Serbian citizen is probably desirable.

[stui magpie]

Well I don't aspire to be a politician and even if I did, there aren't that many idiots enrolled to vote to elect me, is there?






Actually, on second thought......................

[David]

Political allegiances (and the enjoyable prospect of Turnbull being forced into a minority government) aside, it'd be a farce if Joyce is ruled ineligible over this.

[Pies4shaw]

Lizard out; lizard in. Where's the problem?