Dual Citizenship & Public Service
There is a “dual citizenship crisis” in Australia, the BBC reports. Section 44 of the Australian constitution disqualifies from federal public office anyone who is “a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power.”
The first casualty of this crisis was a West Australian senator by the name of Scott Ludlam – a co-deputy leader of the Greens party. It turns out that he’d never formally renounced his New Zealand citizenship despite leaving that country at the age of three.
Then there was the other co-deputy leader of the Greens party: Larissa Waters. You might remember her as the first woman to breastfeed in Parliament, which became viral news. She was born in Canada to Australian parents and has lived in Australia since she was an infant. But, unbeknownst to her, she remained a Canadian citizen and so she too was disqualified from service.
And then a senator from the National Party, Matt Canavan, resigned his cabinet-level post after finding out that his mother had registered him for Italian citizenship without his knowledge.
The hullabaloo in Australia raises interesting questions about citizenship. What does it mean to be a citizen when you’re wholly unaware of your citizenship? What are the risks (real or imagined) when dual citizens enter public service?
-KitJ