Australia Deputy Prime Minister Caught in Dual Citizenship Crisis

According to Joyce at the time, that opposed the country’s biosecurity laws.

‘New Zealand’s facing an election.

Like squabbling siblings, New Zealand and Australia have close ties but also a rivalry that can sometimes turn ugly.

The revelations could spark a crisis for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Liberal-National coalition government, which won national elections a year ago with 76 seats in the House of Representatives – a narrow one-seat majority.

Mr English appeared to have some sympathy for Mr Joyce, saying cases like his are “almost always accidental”.

And Western Australia senator Scott Ludlam resigned last month after it emerged he also had New Zealand citizenship. “The New Zealand government has no record of registering me as a New Zealand citizen”.

The revelation about Joyce’s roots came to light after New Zealand’s opposition Labour Party member Chris Hipkins raised the matter in parliament there.

Under section 44 (i) of the constitution, anyone who is a citizen of a country other than Australia is ineligible to be elected to parliament. “I think merely an oversight, but unfortunately that’s the law”.

Instead, he opened the meeting with the Maori greeting “Kia Ora” and joked Mr Joyce should be renamed Foreign Minister or “leader of the dual nationals”.

The diplomatic clash caps off a freaky 48 hours in Canberra after Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was discovered to be a New Zealand citizen through his father.

But with a dual citizenship scandal now rocking Australian politics, Joyce’s own embarrassment is unlikely to go away any time soon.

Are you an Australian MP whose just found out they’re Kiwi?

Mr Joyce is likely to have to resign from parliament, robbing the government of its one-seat majority.

Mr Joyce revealed his New Zealand connection on Monday, which sparked calls for him to stand down as it is illegal for dual citizens to hold a seat in the Australian Parliament.

Saunders said Australia should take cues from worldwide law, whereby dual citizens who have “naturalized” in one nation take on a “real and effective” nationality, leaving their dual-citizenship “dormant”.

“I am sick of hearing in the halls of this parliament who might have dual citizenship and who might not”, she said.

Amber Heard is experiencing some government paperwork karma at the moment, and she seems to be enjoying it.

“The relationship between the New Zealand Labour Party and the Australian government is too important for politics to get in the way”.

High Court will determine whether Barnaby is eligible to sit in parliament.