Get ready for your newest electoral distraction:
The chair of an inquiry ordered by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull amid the dual citizenship crisis says a constitutional provision banning millions of Australians from being elected to Parliament is broken and should be overturned at a referendum.
In her strongest comments on the issue to date, Liberal senator Linda Reynolds said it was her personal view that the only way to fix section 44 of the constitution – which ended the careers of eight MPs in an unprecedented eligibility fiasco last year and threatens the future of up to four more – was to take it to a referendum.
Her view raises the likelihood Parliament’s joint standing committee on electoral matters will also recommend a referendum when it hands down its report shortly, setting up the possibility the vote could be held in conjunction with the next federal election.
Is it really too much to ask that Australian pollies hold their first allegiance to Australia? I mean, really…
Look over there everybody!
Never mind real reform for energy, immigration, banks, taxes, the Budget or anything else of substance.
