• Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce referred to High Court over Dual Citizenship
    29 replies, posted
[QUOTE] Barnaby Joyce has referred himself to the High Court, after Fairfax Media asked the Deputy Prime Minister a series of questions about whether he could be a dual citizen of New Zealand. In shock developments at Parliament House on Monday, Mr Joyce became the latest potential victim of a worsening citizenship saga after extensive investigations revealed he inherited dual citizenship through his father, who was born in New Zealand. The Deputy Prime Minister, who was born in Australia and has never applied for New Zealand citizenship, said he was "shocked" to receive Fairfax Media's questions on Thursday. Fairfax Media also sent an additional request for comment about an hour before Mr Joyce's bombshell announcement. He told Parliament he had decided to refer himself to the High Court for clarification but would not resign from cabinet and would remain as the member for New England. [/QUOTE] [url]http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/deputy-prime-minister-barnaby-joyce-refers-himself-to-high-court-over-potential-dual-citizenship-20170814-gxvhs2.html[/url] Lol. So far we have: - Scott Ludlam (Resigned) - Larissa Water (Resigned) - Malcolm Roberts (Contesting) - Matt Canavan (Contesting) - Barnaby Joyce (Contesting) For those unfamiliar, the two resigned were part of our left wing crossbench, and two who are contesting are part of the govt. Malcolm Roberts is the crazy climate change denier. The government has such a slim majority that really they have no choice but to contest this because if they were to resign it would seriously damage the government to the point where they may be operating on a minority. If Barnaby goes down, it will trigger a byelection in a seat which was in doubt last election and could well go back to Tony Windsor (an independent) if he decides to run again (thus diminishing their majority).
Would someone kindly give those not in the know a crash course in why everyone down under is so pissy about their elected officials having dual citizenships? It seems like a massive nonissue to me.
[QUOTE=TestECull;52570299]Would someone kindly give those not in the know a crash course in why everyone down under is so pissy about their elected officials having dual citizenships? It seems like a massive nonissue to me.[/QUOTE] I could imagine there'd be a conflict of interests. I mean sure it's not so much a problem with NZ since NZ and AU are such close allies anyway, but if there's a politician who is dual citizen of say, China or something like that, that could influence decisions. That's what I'd imagine the reasoning is anyway.
2017 shall go down as the Kiwi Scare, where dozens of kiwis and canucks were forcibly purged from the government.
[QUOTE=Sableye;52570334]2017 shall go down as the Kiwi Scare, where dozens of kiwis and canucks were forcibly purged from the government.[/QUOTE] our unification efforts foiled once more!
[QUOTE=TestECull;52570299]Would someone kindly give those not in the know a crash course in why everyone down under is so pissy about their elected officials having dual citizenships? It seems like a massive nonissue to me.[/QUOTE] The Australian constitution does not allow members of parliament to have dual-citizenship. Although in Australia we do not consider out constitution to be the sacred word of baby Jesus (unlike in America), I'm sure that as an American, you can appreciate the legalities of breaching a constitution. [editline]14th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=RichyZ;52570305]being a citizen of a foreign nation could lead to a conflict of interest and legislation not aimed to help the citizens of the country you work for[/QUOTE] Pretty much this. Imagine if say there was a member of parliament who was a dual-citizen, and parliament was considering placing sanctions on the country which that member is also a citizen of. There's always a chance that the member may not vote in Australia's best interests.
oh my god New Zealand citizenship is such a non-problem
He's a Kiwi :v:
Eh, not sure he is. In 1947 when his father moved to Australia there was no such thing as a New Zealand citizenship. Everyone was a British citizen.
[QUOTE=download;52570733]Eh, not sure he is. In 1947 when his father moved to Australia there was no such thing as a New Zealand citizenship. Everyone was a British citizen.[/QUOTE] NZ gov confirmed he is [url]http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-14/barnaby-joyce-is-a-new-zealand-citizen-nz-government-confirms/8804620[/url]
I think he's challenging the legal basis for it. Australian and New Zealand citizenship was given to British citizens in Australia and New Zealand on some day in the late 1940s. If he wasn't in New Zealand on that day he should not have been made a citizen. [b]Edit:[/b] Looking it up, if you were a British subject on 1st of January 1949 in New Zealand you became a New Zealand citizen. Joyce's father came to Australia from New Zealand in 1947. Australia's British Subject to Australian citizenship transition happened on 26th of Jan 1949.
I was talking to kiwi about this pretty early into it's discussion I come home to some excellent news Question Time is on fire today, Just the way I like it
[QUOTE=download;52570775]I think he's challenging the legal basis for it. Australian and New Zealand citizenship was given to British citizens in Australia and New Zealand on some day in the late 1940s. If he wasn't in New Zealand on that day he should not have been made a citizen. [b]Edit:[/b] Looking it up, if you were a British subject on 1st of January 1949 in New Zealand you became a New Zealand citizen. Joyce's father came to Australia from New Zealand in 1947. Australia's British Subject to Australian citizenship transition happened on 26th of Jan 1949.[/QUOTE] Due to amendments made to the NZ citizenship act in 2001, legally now he has and 'has always been considered to be' an NZ citizen. Ie the amendments would have restored his citizenship by descent with effect from the date his citizenship lapsed. To put further clarification to it, he entered parliament in 2005. So that means his situation is no different to anyone else's. When he signed the document to join the senate, he was an NZ citizen due to the amendments made in 2001. It would have been on record too. Whether it's enough to push him (I doubt it is) or not, he basically made the same mistake as every senator implicated. Here's a link to the legislation if you're interested: [url]http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2000/0009/latest/whole.html#DLM54927[/url] [url]http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2001/0095/latest/whole.html#DLM121275[/url] IMO he should resign from the front bench pending investigation. Once the court challenge is complete and a verdict is placed if he is cleared he can return to the front bench. Short of resigning that would be the ethical course of action.
Is there anyone in Australias government that doesn't have dual citizenship?
[QUOTE=Del91;52571031]Is there anyone in Australians government that doesn't have dual citizenship?[/QUOTE] Yeah, defo, the boys and girls with triple citizenship
Scotty has caused a big chain of events
[QUOTE=Badballer;52571093]Scotty has caused a big chain of events[/QUOTE] You can always rely on a Scot, but [i]never trust a fucking Scott[/i]
[url]http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/nick-xenophon-enters-the-dual-citizenship-mix/news-story/a6099c636d54ff602075bd41b79b0f43?nk=8ecd65818fd428be04074c9599dc2f6a-1502760202[/url] Xenophon is uncertain if he's a Greek citizen.
[QUOTE=killerteacup;52570881]Due to amendments made to the NZ citizenship act in 2001, legally now he has and 'has always been considered to be' an NZ citizen. Ie the amendments would have restored his citizenship by descent with effect from the date his citizenship lapsed. [/QUOTE] So it [I]is[/I] a kiwi conspiracy to take out the austrailian government
[QUOTE=BF;52571099]You can always rely on a Scot, but [i]never trust a fucking Scott[/i][/QUOTE] Well then I have no fucking idea where that's gonna leave people regarding me.
basically nz is toppling our democracy those fuckers
[QUOTE=Kiwi;52574876]How about that state joke huh? More like Australia is the state of NZ. [sp] I jest[/sp][/QUOTE] alright let's not get ahead of ourselves, nz will always be Australia's third nipple
So are any NZers here part of NZ Labour's apparent conspiracy to BRING DOWN our RIGHTFULLY ELECTED GOVERNMENT I am seriously cacking myself [url]https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/15/australia-accuses-new-zealand-opposition-bring-down-government[/url] It's like the govt went into a boardroom and was like "well shit, we can't just keep saying stuff about Labor, it doesn't seem to be working. What's scarier than the Labor party? TWO Labour parties!"
"The New Zealand Labour party. They're like Labor, but they know how to spell" Coalition MPs "fuuuuuuuuuck"
[QUOTE=Lonestriper;52575479]"The New Zealand Labour party. They're like Labor, but they know how to spell" Coalition MPs "fuuuuuuuuuck"[/QUOTE] Why [I]haven't[/I] we reverted the spelling? Surely it can't be that difficult?
[QUOTE=Zelpa;52575615]Why [I]haven't[/I] we reverted the spelling? Surely it can't be that difficult?[/QUOTE] Changing branding nation wide isn't really worth the relatively low reward.
[QUOTE=Zelpa;52575615]Why [I]haven't[/I] we reverted the spelling? Surely it can't be that difficult?[/QUOTE] They deliberately chose Labor instead of Labour, to align themselves with labour movements in the United States at the time, but also to appear as an entity that was distinct from the labour movement in Australia.
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