Jeff Kennett accuses Malcolm Turnbull if being ‘bereft of leadership’
SENIOR Liberal Jeff Kennett has criticised Malcolm Turnbull’s poor handling of the citizenship crisis as he calls for an immediate audit of all federal MPs.
NSW
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SENIOR Liberal Jeff Kennett says Malcolm Turnbull has shown he is “bereft of leadership” with his poor handling of the citizenship crisis as he calls for an immediate citizenship audit of all federal MPs.
The former Victorian premier, who indicated Mr Turnbull’s leadership had been in peril for some time, said the fact Stephen Parry had “dishonestly” sat in Parliament when he was ineligible to do so raised questions about how many others were putting their self-interest above the Australian Constitution.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, an incensed Mr Kennett also questioned why sent taxpayers should pick up the multimillion-dollar High Court legal bill instead of the individual politicians or their political parties.
“When this whole process started up the Prime Minister accused the Greens of being sloppy when their senators were ineligible to sit in parliament,” Mr Kennett told The Daily Telegraph.
“Now, not only have these words come back to bite the Prime Minister on the backside, but more importantly the very fact one of the Prime Minister’s own not only was dishonest, but shared his potential ineligibly with others who did nothing about it, you now have to ask the question whether there are others in the parliament who are putting self-interest above the Constitution.
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“I am ropeable at the lack of leadership that’s been shown in sheeting home the cost of these issues to the public and I’m ropeable that the Prime minister and the Leader of the Opposition are so bereft of political leadership.”
Mr Kennett lamented that “the respect and trust of our political class has never been lower”.
He said an independent audit of federal politicians’ citizenship was needed to restore confidence in the parliamentary system as questions continue to emerge over the eligibility of Liberal and Labor MPs.
“The only way this is going to be resolved is if there is an independent audit,” he said.
“It can be someone appointed by the court who goes through the history of every MP.
“The reality is, if they continue to sit in Parliament and pass legislation when there’s a majority of one, that legislation might be invalid.”
The founder and former chair of BeyondBlue was also scathing of the government’s decision to have the public pay the multimillion-dollar legal bill of the dual citizens who had their case heard in the High Court.
“This is highway robbery. It’d be millions of dollars for very expensive QCs,” he said.
“If (you’re facing) a tax issue or HR issue, the Commonwealth will pursue you until you break financially or emotionally, and yet when they are caught out, we have to pay.
“It’s just another reflection of the failure of those we elect to provide the leadership that the public expects.
“It is now a reflection of how little trust and respect the Australian political parties have for the average Australian.
“If it wasn’t so serious you could write a Yes Minister on the way the Australian Parliament has been behaving ever since Kevin Rudd came to office.”
Asked if Mr Turnbull was entering a danger period of his prime ministership, Mr Kennett said: “No more than he was a week ago or 10 weeks ago. If you gave the public the option, by having voluntary voting, they wouldn’t vote for any of them,” he said.
“The pubic has had a gutful of the self-interest and self-serving interest of members of parliament,” he said.
Instead of examining the eligibility of politicians, Mr Turnbull has suggested the section of the Constitution that deals with citizenship should be revisited to make it easier for people from a multicultural nation like Australia to enter politics.
Mr Kennett strongly disagreed with this approach.
“I have always favoured the Constitution Section 44. I believe a person who wishes to sit in parliament should have only one allegiance to Australia and it’s people,” he said.
“People are not forced to become a member of parliament, it’s a voluntary act, if they want to go into the parliament, they should ensure they are eligible to do so.”