POLITICIANS – AUSTRALIA

Joyce and Nash should step aside, expert warns

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 31-Aug-17

Constitutional law expert Professor George Williams has told the National Press Club that cabinet ministers Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash should step down from their portfolios until the High Court determines whether they are eligible to be in Parliament. He says there is potential for all ministerial decisions they have made since the 2016 election to be subject to a legal challenge if they are disqualified from Parliament due to dual citizenship. Williams adds that an audit of all federal MPs and senators should not be held until the court hands down its ruling.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

Union chief avoids police action over ‘threats’

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 25-Aug-17

The Construction, Forestry Mining & Energy Union has welcomed the Australian Federal Police’s decision not to pursue an investigation against Victorian state secretary John Setka. Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash had asked the AFP to investigate alleged threats made by Setka against Australian Building & Construction Commission staff at a rally in June. A spokesperson for Cash has reiterated her concern about the tone of Setka’s comments.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LAING O’ROURKE AUSTRALIA CONSTRUCTION PTY LTD, BORAL LIMITED – ASX BLD, DE MARTIN AND GASPARINI PTY LTD, PROBUILD CONSTRUCTIONS (VICTORIA) PTY LTD, THE MASTER BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF VICTORIA

Citizenship turmoil to last months

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Mark Ludlow
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 5 : 25-Aug-17

Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus says cabinet ministers Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash should step aside until the High Court rules on their eligibility to be in Parliament. The hearing is not scheduled to begin until 10 October, and Dreyfus argues that any ministerial decisions they make in the interim could be subject to a legal challenge if the court disqualifies them due to dual citizenship. Constitutional lawyers Anne Twomey and George Williams say the court may not necessarily rule in the Government’s favour in the cases of Joyce, Nash and Matt Canavan.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, COURT OF DISPUTED RETURNS, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ADANI MINING PTY LTD, NORTHERN AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE FACILITY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, NICK XENOPHON TEAM, GREAT BRITAIN. HOME OFFICE

Shorten no to British citizenship proof calls

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Original article by Rosie Lewis, Samantha Hutchinson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Aug-17

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says dual citizenship is not an issue for any Australian Labor Party MPs, adding that they should not have to provide documented evidence that they are solely Australian citizens. Shorten himself was a British citizen by descent, but he stresses that he relinquished his British citizenship a year before being elected to Parliament in 2007. However, he has declined to supply proof of this. Meanwhile, the Government claims that several Labor MPs could be dual citizens.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Probe for Shorten over AWU’s GetUp! donation

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Original article by Brad Norington
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 16-Aug-17

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has formally referred a union donation to activist group GetUp to the Registered Organisations Commission. The Australian Workers’ Union made the donation of about $A100,000 in 2005, when current Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was the union’s national secretary. A spokesman for Shorten has indicated that the donation had been approved by the AWU’s national executive. However, some members of the national executive at the time say they have no recollection of the donation being formally approved.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN WORKERS’ UNION-FEDERATION OF INDUSTRIAL, MANUFACTURING AND ENGINEERING EMPLOYEES, GETUP LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIA. REGISTERED ORGANISATIONS COMMISSION, HEALTH SERVICES UNION OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Kiwi Joyce puts doubt on majority

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Aug-17

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is confident that the High Court will rule that National Party leader Barnaby Joyce is eligible to be in Parliament. The Deputy Prime Minister is the latest federal MP to become embroiled in the dual citizenship saga, following revelations that he is be a New Zealand citizen because his father was born there. The Opposition has called for Joyce to stand aside until his status is determined by the High Court, while it has also questioned the legitimacy of the Government. A by-election in Joyce’s seat could result in the loss of the Government’s one-seat majority.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Federal watch on assisted dying plan

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Original article by Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 7 : 9-Aug-17

Members of both major political parties in Victoria will be given a conscience vote on the State Government’s voluntary euthanasia bill, which is slated to be put to Parliament by the end of August. Meanwhile, the issue of euthanasia is not currently on the Federal Opposition’s policy agenda, according to shadow health minister Catherine King. However, King has indicated that she is in favour of doctor assisted-suicide under certain circumstances.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Leyonhjelm attacks anti-corruption bill

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Original article by Andrew Tillett
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 7-Aug-17

Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm has concerns about the Federal Government’s proposed union anti-corruption legislation. The legislation, which has been drawn up in response to the royal commission into union corruption, is due to be tabled in the Senate in the week beginning 7 August 2017. Leyonhjelm is worried that people who have made what they believe to be legitimate payments to a union could find themselves coming under the legislation, and could end up going to jail. He wants it amended to protect such situations.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

MP fiasco extends to bloodlines

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 28-Jul-17

The issue of federal politicians with dual citizenship continues to attract scrutiny, with 21 lower house MPs having confirmed that a parent or grandparent was born overseas. There would be major implications for the Government if any Coalition MPs were found to have foreign citizenship by descent, given its one-seat majority in the lower house. Meanwhile, One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has confirmed that he was a British dual national when elected to Parliament in July 2016. He had taken action to renounce his British citizenship, but official documentation was not completed until December.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND TRADE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND. DEPT OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

More MPs under threat

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Original article by Mark Kenny
The Age – Page: 1 : 27-Jul-17

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale says an audit should be taken to determine the eligibility of all federal MPs to hold public office in the wake of the dual citizenship saga. University of New South Wales law expert George Williams says more MPs may fail the eligiblity requirements under section 44 of the Constitution. This would have major implications for the Federal Government, given that it has a one-seat majority in the lower house.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GREENS, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA