The Australian constitution, the ‘birth certificate of our nation' provides the basic rules for the government of Australia.
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National party leader Barnaby Joyce and deputy leader Fiona Nash face high court cases over their citizenship, the constitution says parliamentarians cannot be ministers if not validly elected.
Joyce and Nash are insisting on remaining in their posts while their matters are heard unlike their colleague Matt Canavan.
This is a mess. Why the law has not been challenged before now is baffling considering the multi cultural country Australia is.
Senator Nash was born in Australia and one would think that would be enough to be a ‘valid’ representative of the people in our parliament.
But rules are rules. I understand the Greens are not popular in rural electorates, but there should not be one rule for one party and one rule for another, they are all parliamentarians and therefore they should all abide by the same rules.
If the High Court finds that Barnaby Joyce was not validly elected his seat would be subject to a by-election, he would run again as he has now renounced his New Zealand citizenship and he’d win in a landslide because New England love him, he would be one of the few LNP candidates that will feel secure going into the next election.
So, although an expensive exercise the government’s slim majority would remain under this scenario.
But if ministers Fiona Nash and Matthew Canavan were not validly elected at the last federal election a recount of the votes would be ordered by the court of disputed returns and their seats would more than likely go to the next person on the Coalition ticket.
Party machinations aside, a more scary scenario has presented itself out of this citizenship fiasco.
There is a very real risk that if the high court finds the Nash, Joyce and Canavan should not have been elected because of their dual citizenship’s, any decisions they have made as ministers could be open to legal challenge, according to Constitutional law experts.
Sydney University professor Professor of Constitutional Law Anne Twomey said it would be better if decision making was made by acting ministers until such time as their cases are resolved.
Nash and Joyce should stop playing games and step down. Rules are rules and no one should be exempt.