At the moment the political class is in panic about court rulings reinforcing the Constitutional requirement that prevent dual nationals from running for parliamentary office. At present Senator Canavan seems to be in trouble because his mother, Australian-born, but Italian, signed him up for Italian citizenship in 2006, without his knowledge: The Australian, July, 26, 2017, p. 1.
The cartoonists have made fun out of this claim, but I do not see any reason to doubt the claim as being sincere, for Italian mothers could culturally do such things for their sons. Obviously, mum did not know the consequences. What now?
Well, I believe that section 44 of the Constitution is quite clear what needs to happen:
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 44
Disqualification
Any person who:
(i) is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power; or
(ii) is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer; or
(iii) is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or
(iv) holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth; or
(v) has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons;
shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.
But subsection (iv) does not apply to the office of any of the Queen’s Ministers of State for the Commonwealth, or of any of the Queen’s Ministers for a State, or to the receipt of pay, half pay, or a pension, by any person as an officer or member of the Queen’s navy or army, or to the receipt of pay as an officer or member of the naval or military forces of the Commonwealth by any person whose services are not wholly employed by the Commonwealth.”
Read carefully, there is nothing at all said here about intensions; there is nothing along the lines said by one constitutional expert, that a person in defence must have taken all reasonable sets to divest themselves of their second citizenship. There is nothing here about knowledge – instead, the section explicitly speaks about being a “subject,” and people can clearly be subjects without the knowledge condition being met.
This suggests that section 44 will, if the High Court is strong, have the capacity to prune out many politicians. We will see how much they love the multicult, after they lose their seats. Oh, there should be a case made, for losing all benefits, including super, and paying back salaries.
Let the good times roll!