Malcolm
Turnbull and his Cabinet Colleagues are saying the is no need for an audit to
confirm (or otherwise) the citizenship status of all Federal Parliamentarians.
His hard right
wing rivals, the backbench supporters of Tony Abbot are suggesting an audit
would be a good thing. This is probably motivated more by a desire to embarrass
Turnbull than any ideology.
Opposition
Leader Bill Shorten has been guarded in his comments against an audit, being
careful to leave wriggle room should he want to change his mind. Sensing there
is popular support for a citizenship audit, he is now guarded in his support
for such a process.
The Greens
are in favour and I am not sure where One Nation stand, about anything at all.
An audit is
not necessary. It is also not necessary for each Member of Parliament to table details
to prove their Australianism.
There has
been no real suggestion those Politicans found to be ineligible should be
required to repay salaries and benefits received. The argument is they have
been doing the job. There is also precedence for this.
There is a
formal process which includes the Government waiving the debt.
The
citizenship issue could be resolved once and for all, and forever, if the Prime
Minister announced that no debt waiver will be considered for any Politician
found to be ineligible on the basis of Citizenship after 1 December.
Or to put it
another way, if found to be ineligible after the 1 December deadline, repay the
lot.
Problem
solved and the business of Government can resume.
No comments:
Post a Comment