Australian PM to force lawmakers to declare citizenship to end political crisis

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[quote=Reuters]SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced plans on Monday to force all lawmakers to declare they are not dual nationals as he seeks to defuse a political crisis that saw his deputy ejected from parliament.

Turnbull’s center-right coalition government was thrown into disarray last month when the High Court ruled that five lawmakers who were dual nationals, including Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, were ineligible for parliament.

The Australian leader has been facing down calls since for a full audit of parliamentarians to ensure they comply with the country’s constitution, which bars foreign nationals from sitting in parliament to prevent split allegiances.

The High Court ruling expelled three members of the Liberal-National coalition government from parliament, while a fourth resigned days later after confirming he also had dual nationality. The other affected lawmakers were from minority parties, with the main opposition Labor Party yet to be ensnared.

Turnbull said his plan, unlike an audit, would put the onus on lawmakers to check their own situation and anybody found to have made a false declaration would be in contempt of parliament. Lawmakers will be required to produce documents to prove any second citizenship has been renounced.

“Members and senators have been put squarely on notice now and so they will be turning their mind to their own affairs and the issues of citizenship,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra.[/quote]

Read the rest of the article at [url=http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-politics/australian-pm-to-force-lawmakers-to-declare-citizenship-to-end-political-crisis-idUSKBN1D60EB?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=5a0004f004d3016e45bc930b&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook]Reuters[/url]

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and a federal ICAC while you're at it you flog

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Could this potentially cause Liberals to lose their Majority?

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[QUOTE=Xonax;52864184]Could this potentially cause Liberals to lose their Majority?[/QUOTE]

Disqualified members of the House will have to re-contest their seat in a by-election, as is the case for Barnaby Joyce. His seat is deemed safe though, so he is likely to be re-elected.

Disqualified Senators (most of the members caught up in the crisis) cannot re-contest their seats. However, the AEC will fill the vacancies by performing a countback of the ballots from the last federal election. It is virtually guaranteed that each vacant seat will be filled by a candidate from the same party as the outgoing Senator.

[editline]7th November 2017[/editline]

Short answer: Probably not.