Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government could collapse if a court rules that three of his lawmakers with dual citizenship are ineligible to hold office. Even if they stay, his handling of the constitutional crisis gripping Australia’s parliament may have already sealed its fate.
The High Court will begin hearings tomorrow to interpret a 117-year-
old law that bars dual nationals from sitting in parliament. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and two other Cabinet ministers are among seven lawmakers caught up in the fiasco that’s sparked incredulity even in a nation that’s grown used to political turmoil.
Instead of quelling the crisis, the government seems to have exacerbated it. By allowing Joyce and Fiona Nash, the rural health minister, to remain in the Cabinet, even after Resources Minister Matt Canavan stepped aside, Turnbull has opened himself to charges of double standards.
“Turnbull’s inability to deal with the recent chaos has exacerbated existing views among voters that his government is rudderless,” said Martin Drum, a senior lecturer in politics at the University of Notre Dame in Perth. “Controversies are always a lot worse when they affect governments already seen to have lost focus.”
The drama began last month when two senators in the minority Greens party, one born in Canada and the other in New Zealand, resigned from parliament for unwittingly breaching Section 44 of Australia’s constitution. The law says people are disqualified from becoming federal lawmakers if they are “a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power.”
The Liberal-National coalition slipped further behind the main opposition Labor party in a Newspoll published Monday, 46 percent to 54 percent. Should that margin be replicated at the next election, due by 2019, the government, which holds a one-seat majority in the lower house, would be wiped out.
Its majority may disappear even sooner, if the High Court rules against Joyce. In that scenario, Joyce – who has now renounced his New Zealand citizenship – would have to re-contest his seat in a special election.
If he lost, Turnbull may be forced to lead a minority government. That could bring fresh political uncertainty to a nation where no prime minister has served a full three-year term in the past decade.
Australia’s political climate has deteriorated over the past five years to reach the riskiest level relative to its peers since at least 2009, according to Bloomberg’s country risk gauges. The country has lost ground in recent years when it comes to scores for government effectiveness and regulatory quality. MDT/Bloomberg
