October 27, 2017
The High Court has dismissed Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce from Federal Parliament.
He is now no longer Deputy Prime Minister, Agriculture Minister or even an MP … all because his father was born in New Zealand.
“It’s a pretty simple story, we’re off to a by-election,” Mr Joyce told reporters in Tamworth on Friday afternoon.
[UPDATE: This by-election will be held on December 2]
He said he was born in Tamworth and raised in Tamworth.
“I had no reason to believe that I was a citizen of any country other than Australia,” he said.
But he said he was now going to get on with it.
“It’s a tough game politics … I am going to make sure that I’m not going to cry in my beer.”
He said he respected the decision of the High Court, which was handed down on Friday afternoon.
“In my gut I thought, this is the way it’s going to go,” he said.
Mr Joyce said his first action now would be to seek pre-selection for the seat of New England from his local National Party branch.
This would seem certain.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday afternoon, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Tanya Plibersek said Australia now had a hung Parliament with a Minority Government.
She said all motions that Mr Joyce had voted on were under a legal cloud and could be challenged.
“There have been some very significant votes which have been lost by one vote,” she said, citing Bills on penalty rates and banking reform.
“We will be considering what we do when we return to Parliament.”
She accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of an “extraordinary lack of judgment” by allowing Mr Joyce to be Acting PM while he was overseas.
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Also disqualified by the High Court were Senators Malcolm Roberts (PHON), Larissa Waters (Greens), Scott Ludlam (Greens) and Fiona Nash (NP). Senators Matt Canavan (LNP) and Nick Xenophon (NXT) will stay.
[UPDATED]
