If it was not clear before, the situation of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce must now have made it obvious to the Turnbull government that, if it survives, it will have to begin the process of amending the constitution's provisions on the eligibility of MPs.
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Mr Joyce has admitted he had New Zealand citizenship, and may thus be in breach of section 44(i) of the constitution and ineligible for election to the Australian Parliament. If he is (or was), the government may well fall, having lost its majority in the House of Representatives. The task will then fall to its successor.
Mr Joyce said on Tuesday his NZ citizenship had been successfully revoked.
Constitutional reform is not something any federal government these days views with much enthusiasm. Failure is highly likely. Oppositions are often willing to campaign against proposals they actually agree with just to frustrate the government of the day.
But change may well be needed.
Four MPs – three senators and now one member of the lower house – have either admitted they have breached section 44(i), or have asked for an adjudication of their status. The section bars citizens of other countries from parliament.
The basic principle that MPs should be Australian citizens, not citizens of any other country – is sound. Some may argue in this multicultural age of increasing globalisation, dual citizenship is becoming more common and our parliament should accept, and reflect, the trend. That view is flawed.
Voters naturally expect their parliamentarians to be from this country and to represent its, and their, interests, not those of any other country.
But recent events have shown the section and the complexity of other countries' citizenship arrangements has reduced this important issue to a series of pointless gotcha moments.
Politicians from all sides, whom no one is suggesting are agents of influence, and whom none would accuse of bad faith or wrongdoing, have simply been caught out.
They may have been careless or affected by the actions of others, but this has contributed nothing to Australian politics or government. It is simply a distraction.
A parliamentary committee recommended in 1998 the subsection be replaced with a basic requirement that MPs be Australian citizens. It sounds like common sense. Can a referendum succeed which enacts it?