From Shadow Attorney General Mark Drefus over the weekend:
Of the many astonishing things that happened in parliament and the high court over the last few weeks, there is one that I find the most mind-boggling – the willingness to label a part of the constitution as outdated, or irrelevant, because some MPs had not bothered to comply with it.
Seriously. The five parts of section 44, including the prohibition on dual citizenship, have been in our constitution since federation. The wording has never changed. It should not be a surprise to any Australian, let alone a cabinet minister, that it exists – and that it is a requirement to comply with it.
Whether or not you think section 44(i) is unnecessary or doesn’t reflect our multicultural society, the fact is it is in our constitution and it is the current law of the land, until it is changed.
Reforming section 44(i) is not a short-term option. It may not even be a long-term one. For a start, it would need a referendum. And there are already several important constitutional questions in the queue – Indigenous recognition, the republic and four-year terms. So let’s forget about section 44(i) going anywhere anytime soon.
Lawyers representing senator Matt Canavan in the high court on Thursday have basically mounted this argument – that the application of section 44(i) to those who have gained dual citizenship by descent is ridiculous.
Indeed, there’s a suggestion that the current citizenship omnishambles must show there is something wrong with section 44. I’m not sure that’s the case. If there is anything wrong here, it’s the failure of some MPs, even senior ones, and their parties in not expending the effort to ensure they were clear of section 44.
And on the current state of the law, the government’s proposed way out of this mess seems far-fetched. The government’s apparent firm belief that Barnaby Joyce and others are safe as validly elected MPs would require an activist ruling from the high court, radically re-interpreting the meaning of section 44(i) that has been set out in a chain of high court decisions.
Bugger that. It’s a very straight forward principle that must be protected: Australians must run Australia. In a period of mass immigration – when foreign nations like China openly claim dominion over their Diasporas – that becomes more not less important.
If you can’t fill in the form to become an MP correctly then you do not deserve the job. To wit:
Labor strategists told Fairfax Meda that when Parliament returns on September 4 they will capitalise on the political uncertainty created by the looming High Court case and try again to push through laws to set up a banking royal commission and protect penalty rates.
This will increase the sense of “chaos in Parliament”, as one said, and keep Mr Turnbull on the back foot at a time when he is trailing badly in the opinion polls.
The opposition will keep pushing for Mr Joyce and deputy Nationals leader Fiona Nash to step down from cabinet – as former resources minister Matt Canavan has done – and for the government to not to make major decisions nor put up contentious legislation while there is a cloud over senior ministers.
It’s not a sense of chaos. It is chaos.
