Editorial: Let’s see the ALP’s advice

EDITORIAL: It was only a matter of time before the ongoing crisis of federal parliamentarians being potentially disqualified from office because of dual citizenships known or ­unknown got around to biting Labor.

It was only a matter of time before the ongoing crisis of federal parliamentarians being potentially disqualified from office because of dual citizenships known or ­unknown got around to biting Labor. Despite assertions from Opposition Leader Bill Shorten that his party’s politicians, ­unlike those of the Nationals, the Liberals, or the Greens, had been properly vetted and that therefore there is nothing to see here, questions around Senator Katy Gallagher suggest otherwise.

The discovery of a passenger card indicating that the senator’s mother was born in Ecuador thus making her — and, under the terms of the Ecuadorean constitution, her children as well — citizens of the South American nation raises serious questions that cannot be waived away with glib assertions.

Senator Katy Gallagher. Picture: AAP

Yet so far Labor has shown the same pattern in dealing with Gallagher’s specific case as they have demonstrated with the rest of their parliamentary team. Australians are essentially left with Labor’s assertions that we should trust that they have done the hard work and taken the necessary advice — and not just engaged in a spot of lawyering-by-Google. And we are presumably also forced to accept that their advice regarding the ­potential retrospectivity of the current Ecuadorean constitution comes down on their side — even if that advice is yet to be ­revealed. Thank you, but we would rather take the word of the unbiased experts on the High Court.

It is also worth pointing out that adherence to Section 44 is not a matter for partisan politics. It is there for a very good reason, to ensure that those who make the laws on behalf of this country do so unencumbered by other national loyalties or affiliations. And even if the rules seems strict, they are not a problem so long as they are applied fairly. This newspaper has sought to even-handedly cover dual citizenship matters affecting members of the Greens, the Liberals, and the Nationals. These cases have all been the subject of enthusiastic commentary across the press.

Yet there has been relative quiet around Gallagher’s case, which would seem to up-end Shorten’s earlier assertions. The fact is that Katy Gallagher’s final status is yet to be determined, but it deserves to be looked at. Ultimately a full audit of the citizenships of MPs and senators may be the only way out of this mess.

A dog’s life in retirement

There’s an old saying that if you want a friend, get a dog. Sound advice, unless you’re a resident at the Vaughan Village retirement community, which is trying to evict 79-year-old John Murphy’s german shepherd Rex.

Retiree John Murphy and Rex.

Despite being a psychiatric assistance dog who has helped Mr Murphy deal with the stress of his wife moving to a dementia facility, the residence’s management has taken the matter to the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal. Although the matter is still pending, we hope his landlords reconsider and John Murphy and his faithful friend get to spend many more years together.

Wrath and Kim

Tensions in North Asia have hit new heights with Pyongyang’s latest provocative missile launches in the region.

Yesterday’s events, which ­included a ballistic missile sailing over the Japanese island of Hokkaido, put an already tense nation on even higher alert and showed just how close the ­region is to war.

One way or the other, the North Korean threat will have to be defused.

While China has a large role to play it is not clear how much influence even Beijing has over its rogue client state. While North Korea always ramps up its behaviour in response to regular Western war games in the region this latest set of actions puts the regime beyond the pale.

Unfortunately, there are no good options, with even a best-case scenario of regime collapse foreshadowing an apocalyptic humanitarian nightmare.

Plans are reportedly on the drawing board to topple the ­regime as surgically as possible. But the lesson of this crisis is that while Western powers may wish to appease dangerous regimes to avoid war, 25 years of concessions to the Kim dynasty have put the entire world at risk.