Editorial: Pollie drama was just resting

Australia generally enters rest mode in summer, particularly over Christmas and the New Year. Schools are shut. Workplaces close or run on minimal hours. And state and federal parliaments take a break.

AUSTRALIA generally enters rest mode in summer, particularly over Christmas and the New Year. Schools are shut. Workplaces close or run on minimal hours. And state and federal parliaments take a break.

But the issues of those parliaments are only dormant, ready to be revived in the new year.

The federal citizenship debacle, which saw politicians ­either quitting politics or being made to recontest their seats, will not be confined to 2017. If anything, 2018 might feature even deeper disputes over constitutional matters.

Labor has been spared the worst of the citizenship crisis, which has primarily hit Greens and Coalition members. This is not because Labor is squeaky clean. Rather, it is mainly due to the party’s stonewalling.

Where those from other parties owned up, Labor’s questionable representatives have dug in their heels. But there is only so long an individual can resist the Constitution’s legal force.

Victorian federal Labor MP David Feeney is now under examination after his alleged renunciation of British citizenship was not registered in the UK more than a decade ago.

In 2007, the ALP’s legal ­division advised Feeney to renounce his UK citizenship before nominating for the Senate.

David Feeney during the citizenship debate in December. Picture: Kym Smith

Feeney inherited British citizenship from his father, who was born in Northern Ireland.

He claims he responded to Labor’s directive by completing the relevant form to secure his renunciation.

Yet Feeney’s lawyer can find no evidence of this.

“For some reason Mr Feeney’s renunciation was not registered,” lawyer Thomas O’Brien told the High Court in Brisbane yesterday.

It’s a curious case. The absence of any record in the UK is one thing, but surely Labor’s management would have required proof of renunciation in 2007 before registering Feeney’s Senate nomination.

As well, it is reasonable to expect Feeney himself to have kept a copy of such an important document.

The year of 2017 hit the Greens and the Coalition hard, with multiple resignations and two potentially disruptive by-elections. This year could bring Constitutional chaos to Labor.

Meanwhile, the party had better keep looking for that elusive Feeney form. Try behind the couch.

IT’S TIME ... PRICES HAVE DROPPED

Like the next recession, predictions of an end to Sydney’s housing boom have been more frequent in the last decade than NRL scandals or even new prime ministers.

Finally, however, we might be seeing signs of a market slowdown. Median unit values in some areas of Sydney have actually declined by up to $145,000 in the past year.

As with everything connected to real estate, this is a consequence of supply and demand. A greater number of units drives down demand and delivers increased affordability.

Incredibly, 2018 might be the time to buy.

DADS NEED SUPPORT TOO

Until relatively recently, postnatal depression was only recognised by those afflicted by it.

Deep into the 20th century, women with postnatal depression were looked upon so dimly that most did not even speak about their condition. Post-natal depression was not only widely dismissed, but sufferers were viewed as unfit parents.

The reality is now recognised.

Sufferers no longer need to endure their sadness in silence.

Now comes a second advance: The need to acknowledge the potential for postnatal depression to afflict new fathers.

According to Perinatal Anxiety And Depression Australia, one in 10 dads will struggle with anxiety or depression in the year after the birth of their baby.

For these men, the pressure of helping to raise a newborn can overwhelm the delight of parenthood.

“We need to say to men, ‘It’s OK, you went through this too — you can’t ever be an unemotional bystander’,” Western Sydney University’s Professor of Midwifery Hannah Dahlen told The Saturday Telegraph.

Hers is sound advice. New parents deserve all the support they can get.