It hasn’t been going very well for our Aussie politicians, has it? That’s because of the big question mark hovering over the “Aussie” bit as many of them are apparently discovering they may not be as Australian as they first thought! Yes, I know, not being aware of one’s citizenship status seems like a bit of a stretch to me too but those of them caught up in the mess are looking a tad shell-shocked, which leads me to believe that it’s entirely possible that a foreign or dual citizenship issue hadn’t occurred to them when they entered the Australian political arena.
If born here, and one’s birth registered here, it is entirely likely that one would assume that one was Australian, right? Regardless of where one’s parents and/or grandparents came from, yes? Well that’s what I would think too but it is not unheard of for parents to also register their child as a citizen of the country of their own birth as well, thus granting them dual citizenship or even full citizenship in some cases, with the country of their parents’ birth. That was the case with a couple I knew many years ago; Mum was Australian, Dad American but they were living in Australia when Daughter Number Two was born. They had her registered as an American citizen. Oh well, seems she didn’t enter politics so no problem.
It’s also possible that parents, who have done the dual or foreign citizenship thingy with their offspring, may not have told them about it, leaving the child/children to discover it for themselves somewhere down the track, like when they decide to enter politics. One has to be an Australian citizen to enter politics in Australia, but if all the Australian politicians caught up in this mess are to be believed, none of them had the foggiest idea. Seems the citizenship conversation was one they never had with their parents. But why would they even think to ask? As in “Hey Mum, am I an Aussie citizen?”
“Well, funny you should ask…because you’re actually not. You see, if you’d been born a girl, we would have just named you after Great Grandma Zanillya, which would have been easier I suppose, but when you turned out to be a boy we decided to have you made a citizen of that tiny Eastern European country, which we’ve never been able to pronounce, that she came from instead. It was a respectful acknowledgement thing, you know? And she was so excited. At least we think she was…she didn’t speak any English so it was a bit hard to tell.”
“You had me made a citizen of a country you can’t even pronounce??!”
“I can spell it though, hang on while I write it down for you.”
Nope, it’s highly unlikely that someone who was born and bred in one country would think to question whether they were possibly a citizen of another. It’s just not something that would normally come to mind.
Meanwhile in Australia, political careers are plummeting as more and more of those in office are being found to be there “illegally” because despite their being born here, they have some vague connection to a foreign country via parents having been born overseas and/or being eligible for dual citizenship as a result. At last one of them apparently gained foreign citizenship via his mother so he’s Italian or something now, and he didn’t even know it! Well that’s what he claims anyway.
Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? I’m fairly certain I’m an Australian citizen but I may not be, despite the fact that I was born here, as were my parents and grandparents.
Seems that doesn’t mean a thing anymore…