Daily Telegraph Editorial: Fix this once and for all

OFTEN — in fact, nearly always — it is best to tackle problems head-on rather than dealing with them piecemeal, or putting in place stopgap solutions. Canberra needs fixing. Meanwhile, Russell Crowe has tweeted in with a refugee solution.

OFTEN — in fact, nearly always — it is best to tackle problems head-on rather than dealing with them piecemeal, or putting in place stopgap solutions.

Suppose, for example, you’ve recently bought a family house. It’s an older, unrenovated dwelling, which is why it came in at slightly below market estimates. But the place has issues, as you discover during the first big summer storm.

The joint leaks.

They aren’t huge leaks, but they are numerous. A ceiling ­inspection reveals dodgy fixes by the previous owners. Garbage bags taped to beams, and so on. None of these fixes properly addresses the main problem. Your house needs major repairs, or summer is going to be damp and dangerous.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott chats with Kevin Andrews during Question Time. Andrews supports a citizenship audit. Picture Gary Ramage

Senator Alex Gallacher Chair. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Parliament House in Can­berra is not particularly old, but it does suffer from a multitude of issues concerning the present residents. Several, it has emerged, were not qualified to be residents at all.

To date, the solution to these situations has been on a case-by-case basis. But this fails to ­address the full extent of the problem, which is a public lack of confidence that there still may be sitting in Parliament more politicians who fall short of constitutional requirements.

The only way to correctly and completely deal with this is a thorough audit of all sitting members, otherwise the steady drip feed of dual-citizenship ­revelations may only continue.

Liberal MP Kevin Andrews and Nationals MP Llew O’Brien are the latest Coalition backbenchers to announce that they support a full audit. Liberal Ian Macdonald and Labor’s Alex Gallacher say they support a citizenship check for all parliamentarians. Victorian Liberal heavyweight Michael Kroger is also now backing an audit.

Andrews is correct when he observes the issue would “continue to fester politically” if it is not dealt with.

“If I was the prime minister I would be ordering, requesting, the (Australian Electoral Commission) for example, to imm­ediately undertake an exam­ination of every MP and senator and to report as soon as possible back to the government,” And­rews said.

Just as with our hypothetical householder, decisive action now will solve all manner of complications further down the line. Lift the roof and get to work. Canberra needs fixing.

Stay calm, we’re still small

Hayley Markham with her daughters Milly, 5, and Elli, 6, in Cook and Phillip Park. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Late in the previous century, Australian Bureau of Statistics experts considered all available data and offered their estimation of our nation’s future population size.

According to the ABS in 1998, Australia was on track to reach a population of 24.9 million by 2051. It seemed a fair call, but the ABS failed to take into account rising fertility rates, increasing longevity and immigration levels. So, instead of hitting 25 million in 2051, we’ll reach that next year.

But before panicking, consider this: our population will still be several million shy of the population in the US — way back in 1860.

Rusty’s offer may have a snag

Russell Crowe has offered the house some Manus Island refugees. Picture: Toby Zerna

Hollywood celebrities have endured some difficult times lately.

First, the election of Donald Trump led to mockery of many stars who’d vowed to leave the US if the Republican defeated Hillary Clinton. He won, but not a single celeb fled the country.

Then an ongoing scandal erupted over decades of alleged sexual assaults involving Hollywood stars and producers.

And now Russell Crowe has exploded on social media, damning Australia’s border protection measures as “a nation’s shame” and “disgraceful”.

Crowe even offered a partial solution. “I believe I could house and find jobs for six (refugees). I’m sure there’d be other Australians who would do the same.”

At least Crowe is putting his hand up, in contrast to many who demand the government take action but don’t propose any realistic form of alternative.

Working for Crowe might not be that cushy, however. In 2005, Crowe pleaded guilty to assault in the US after an incident with a hotel desk clerk who claimed the actor threw a malfunctioning phone at him.

So work for Crowe, by all means. But make sure all his calls get through.