Summary
In a bizarre turn of events, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Barnaby Joyce MP, informed the House of Representatives of his own citizenship concerns: today revealing he is also a citizen of New Zealand. This follows the recent declarations by Senators Canavan, Ludlam and Waters who, unwittingly, all had a secondary citizenships whilst elected to federal Parliament.
While the action was inside the Chamber, the pomp and ceremony returned to the forecourt of Parliament House this morning as the Prime Minister, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, welcomed his counterpart from the Solomon Islands, the Hon Manasseh Sogavare MP and his wife, Madame Sogavare, to Australia for a state visit. Speaking at the bilateral meeting, the Prime Minister said of the friendship “our strong partnership was forged 75 years ago in the Battle for Guadalcanal and we have built our partnership over the years since and in particular with the RAMSI operation”.
The normal theatre and bombast of Question Time was replaced with procedural manoeuvring from the Opposition seeking to highlight the Deputy Prime Minister’s citizenship situation.
1.The Opposition used their first two questions of the period, both from the Opposition Leader, the Hon Bill Shorten MP, and both directed to the Prime Minister, to highlight the eligibility concerns surrounding the Deputy Prime Minister. The Prime Minster was emphatic in a response to the Opposition Leader’s first question, saying “based on the advice we have from the Solicitor-General, the Government is very confident that the Court will not find the Member for New England is disqualified from being a Member of this House”.
2.Responding to the second question from the Opposition Leader, the Prime Minister raised highbrows with the strength of his response about the High Court’s forthcoming judgement on the Deputy Prime Minister’s case, saying “the Leader of the National Party, the Deputy Prime Minister, is qualified to sit in this House and the High Court will so hold”.
3.The Manager of Opposition Business, the Hon Tony Burke MP, disputed whether the Deputy Prime Minister was within his rights to sit on the floor of the House and participate in Question Time. On responding to a vigorous point of order from the Manager of Opposition Business, the Speaker, the Hon Tony Smith MP, concluded “the House passed a resolution referring the matter to the High Court. The High Court will determine the matter. If the High Court determines there is a vacancy, that’s when that occurs, not when the Manager of Opposition raises a point of order”.
4.During a Dorothy Dixer from the Member for Capricornia, Ms Michelle Landry MP, to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Manager of Opposition Business continued his tactics to procedurally disrupt Question Time and moved a motion that the Deputy Prime Minister “be no longer be heard”. Predictably, the Government had the numbers to win the division. Of note was the Greens’ Member for Melbourne, Mr Adam Bandt MP, who sided with the Opposition, whereas the NXT Member for Mayo, Ms Rebekha Sharkie MP, sided with the Government in the vote. This could be a sign of the future if the Government is forced to seek confidence from the Crossbench to guarantee supply, should the Government lose any Members from the House of Representatives.
5.It was interesting that the Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, the Hon Kelly O’Dwyer MP, took the opportunity, during a Dorothy Dixer from the Member for Chisholm, Ms Julia Banks MP, to double-down on Government attack lines regarding modelling on Labor’s tax policies. This came even after the independent Parliamentary Budget Office had refused to claim ownership of the work.
1.The Deputy Prime Minister today alerted the House of Representatives that he too is a dual citizen, this time of New Zealand, thus potentially affecting his ability to be an elected Member of Parliament. Speaking at the dispatch box today in Parliament, the Deputy Prime Minister said “I’ve always been an Australian citizen, born in Tamworth”. The irregularity has been traced back to the Deputy Prime Minister’s father, who was born in New Zealand, and whether or not this automatically confers a citizenship to his offspring. Following advice from the New Zealand High Commission, which told the Deputy Prime Minister he might be a New Zealand citizen by descent, the Deputy Prime Minister says he has received clarifying advice from the Australian Government Solicitor regarding section 44 of the Constitution.
2.The office of the Minister for Internal Affairs in New Zealand, the Hon Peter Dunne, confirmed to Sky News that the Deputy Prime Minister is indeed a New Zealand citizen. Speaking at a press conference held during Australia’s Question Time, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Rt Hon Bill English MP, also confirmed the claims, saying “From the New Zealand point of view, it’s simply a matter of Department of Internal Affairs applying New Zealand law… unwittingly or not, he’s a New Zealand citizen”.
3.In a sign the Government is worried about the impact that section 44 might have on their Members and Senators within Parliament, the Prime Minister has written to the Opposition Leader to offer a bulk-buy discount of sorts for the forthcoming High Court action, today writing “I… offer you the opportunity to nominate any Labor members or senators whose circumstances may raise questions under s. 44 of the Constitution so that the Parliament can also refer these matters to the High Court for its consideration. There are a number of cases already referred by the Senate and so it would be helpful if all relevant matters could be heard by the court at the same time”.
4.In a rare foray into the political cycle, the independent Parliamentary Budget Office has been forced to publicly repudiate claims that it has worked on the Labor Party’s tax plan modelling that revealed a $150b taxation slug. PBO Officer, Ms Jenny Wilkinson, issued a media statement saying “references in the media this morning to modelling being released today by the Parliamentary Budget Office are incorrect. The analysis reported in the media this morning was not conducted by the PBO”.
5.The Commonwealth Bank today announced that its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ian Narev, will retire from the helm of the CBA at the end of the current financial year. The CEO and the bank has faced strong criticism in the wake of a civil lawsuit by AUSTRAC, which found over 53,000 potential breaches of the anti-money laundering legislation. The Chairman of the CBA said the board decided to hasten details of the succession planning to deal with “speculation and questions about his (Narev) tenure”.
Today’s legislation focus included:
1.Electoral Amendment (Banning Foreign Political Donations) Bill 2017.
2.Australian Bill Of Rights Bill 2017.
3.Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment (Strengthening The Requirements For Australian Citizenship And Other Measures) Bill 2017.
