Australian Deputy Prime Minister sacked for being a secret New Zealander

[Bramblethorn]

In case anybody wanted a break from US politics, feel free to chortle at Australia this afternoon.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41772372

 

[Iceprincess12]

They both sound the same. Don’t all NZ’s wish they were Aussie?

 

[oggbashan]

They both sound the same. Don’t all NZ’s wish they were Aussie?

No. New Zealand doesn't have the scary animals that Australia has.

The interesting thing about the linked article is that two of those queried didn't know they had dual citizenship.

 

[domroger]

I would have thought that New Zealanders would have added gravitas to Australian politics ,which surely needs it .

 

[oggbashan]

I would have thought that New Zealanders would have added gravitas to Australian politics ,which surely needs it .

Gravitas? The Australian Federal and State Parliaments have a good record on terms of abuse:

https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2015/08/07/unparliamentary-language-australian-edition/

Hon. Bill Forwood: You are a fool!

Hon. T. C. THEOPHANOUS: And you are a dickhead!

+++

Mr EARL: The honourable member for Wakehurst, the wife basher, adulterer—
+++

Mr SPEAKER: Order! The question is, That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would preclude consideration forthwith of General Business Notice of Motion No. 1 standing in the name of the honourable member for South Coast. Those in favour—

Miss Machin: This will do you a lot of good at home, won’t it, Terry?

Mr Sheahan: You’re a real little bitch, I tell you. I’ll deal with you later.
+++

Mr Micallef: What is the difference between you and a bucket of shit?

The SPEAKER: Order! The honourable member has used an unparliamentary expression. I ask him to withdraw.

Mr MICALLEF (Springvale): I withdraw ‘bucket’.

The SPEAKER: Order! An unqualified withdrawal please!

 

[Bramblethorn]

No. New Zealand doesn't have the scary animals that Australia has.

The interesting thing about the linked article is that two of those queried didn't know they had dual citizenship.

It's surprisingly easy for that to happen. You don't have to hold a foreign passport to be disqualified under Section 44; you just have to be eligible for citizenship of another country, and to have not taken all reasonable steps to renounce it. Some of them were eligible due to their parents' nationality, and there's also room for confusion at the point where Australian citizenship became separate from British.

That said, it's a known issue and I'm surprised some of these parties weren't doing a thorough citizenship check as part of their standard candidate vetting processes.

Gravitas? The Australian Federal and State Parliaments have a good record on terms of abuse: ...

PM Paul Keating was well known for his sharp tongue: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-12/the-collected-insults-of-paul-keating/5071412

But my favourite comes from the occasion when Sir Winton Turnbull, a member of the Country Party, was giving a rambling speech where he stated "I am a country member!" Gough Whitlam, future Prime Minister, interjected with "I remember!" and the chamber dissolved in applause.

 

[colddiesel]

Section 44 is pretty stupid. One person is excluded because she was born in Canada to two Australian parents, and another, because he was born in Australia but one parent was born in New Zealand. Both are Australians but both are excluded because they have an entitlement to another nationality, albeit one never exercized.

If America had a Section 44, Donald Trump would be excluded because he is entitled to British Citizenship through his British mother. so mebbe not so stupid?

As 27% of all Aussies were born overseas or have a parent born overseas this is a much bigger problem than it initially appears.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Section 44 is pretty stupid. One person is excluded because she was born in Canada to two Australian parents, and another, because he was born in Australia but one parent was born in New Zealand. Both are Australians but both are excluded because they have an entitlement to another nationality, albeit one never exercized.

If America had a Section 44, Donald Trump would be excluded because he is entitled to British Citizenship through his British mother. so mebbe not so stupid?

As 27% of all Aussies were born overseas or have a parent born overseas this is a much bigger problem than it initially appears.

Even higher than that! The 27% figure (recently updated to 28%) is only for those born overseas; adding in the "or parent" makes it 49%, according to the latest Census release.

And, yeah, it's a bad rule and it ought to be changed, but it's hilarious that one of the senators who got caught by it is from an anti-immigration party.

I do think that Joyce should have followed Ludlam and Waters' examples and stepped down as soon as he became aware that there were doubts about his eligiblity, especially since he seems to have known that there was a pretty strong case against him. As stupid as the law is, it's a pretty bad look for the Deputy PM to go on taking a public salary and exercising high office knowing that he might not be lawfully entitled to it.

 

[oggbashan]

Winston Churchill had an American mother. He could have had US citizenship before he was given it as an honour after WW2.

Many English noblemen married American wives in the period from 1880 to 1914. Much of the current inherited nobility in England has American bloodlines.

 

[JackLuis]

This could have complicated everything:
Surrogate mother unknowingly gives birth to her biological son

In one of the rare incidents a California surrogate, hired by a Chinese couple gave birth to twins, and she later discovered one of them was her biological child.

Jessica Allen, 31, already had two other children with her partner Wardell Jasper, 34, prior to her decision of becoming a gestational surrogate for a couple, who had opted for an American surrogate because surrogacy was not legal in their country.

The first time she saw the twins was when the mother brought a picture of the babies for her the following day. It was then that she saw a distinct difference between their appearances. One of them looked like an Asian child, while the other one was a cross between Caucasian and African-American.

Despite suspecting the second child was her biological child, Allen could do little, other than waiting for a month before she could conduct DNA tests with the permission of the couple. It was proved thereafter that the second child was Allen’s biological son — a result of something called “superfetation.”

If the couple had been Australian instead of Chinese it would have been very confusing.

 

[DrDelirium]

I can understand the Aussie's concern. Isn't Mordor in New Zealand?

 

[KimGordon67]

They both sound the same. Don’t all NZ’s wish they were Aussie?

Not even slightly.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Whoops, we lost another one: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-41827970

 

[Bramblethorn]

update: the government has lost its majority in Parliament as another MP turned out to be entitled to British citizenship. Several more senators have gone, and one of the replacement senators quit his party or was expelled (accounts differ) an hour after being sworn in.

I suspect we won't be hearing the "Stable Government" catchphrase quite as much as we used to.

 

[Hypoxia]

I suspect we won't be hearing the "Stable Government" catchphrase quite as much as we used to.

Unless they hold sessions in a horse barn.

That reminds me of the reconstructed historic Canadian village of Kingsport, New Brunswick. In the village was the circa-1880 home of the province's High Court chief justice. Out back was his elegant outhouse, a seven-holer. Yup, the court considered cases whilst on the capper. The panel that shits together...