This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/world/australia/new-zealand-citizenship-julie-bishop.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Australia Official Accuses New Zealand Party of Undermining Its Government Australian Government Accuses New Zealand of Trying to Undermine It
(about 17 hours later)
Australia’s top diplomat sharply criticized New Zealand’s main opposition party on Tuesday, accusing it of trying to “undermine the Australian government” by exposing details about the citizenship status of a top Australian politician. Among countries of the world, Australia and New Zealand are like siblings, with a shared colonial history and close trade, military and cultural ties. They even have a joint holiday to commemorate the sacrifices both nations made in World War I.
Julie Bishop, Australia’s minister for foreign affairs and deputy leader of the right-leaning Liberal Party, made the comments a day after revelations surfaced that Australia’s deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, was a New Zealander by descent. So it was something of a shock on Tuesday when Australia’s foreign minister, Julie Bishop, accused New Zealand’s Labour Party of trying to “undermine the Australian government” by exposing the citizen status of Australia’s deputy prime minister.
Mr. Joyce’s citizenship is at issue because the Australian Constitution does not allow people with dual citizenship to be legislators. His case will be decided by Australia’s High Court, and if he is removed from his post, the government will lose its one-vote majority in the lower house of Parliament and find it difficult to pass legislation. Revelations surfaced a day earlier that the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, was a New Zealander by descent.
The assertion that an opposition party in New Zealand is conspiring to bring down the Australian government is an astonishing turn in the relationship of the two countries, which have long had warm and collegial ties despite Australia’s much broader clout on the world stage. Australia’s population of about 24 million is six times that of New Zealand’s, and Australia’s economy is nearly 10 times bigger than New Zealand’s. Four other Australian politicians have resigned or come under scrutiny in recent weeks because of questions about their citizenship. What started out as a minor political scandal now threatens the government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The Australian Constitution does not allow people with dual citizenship to be legislators, and if Mr. Joyce is forced to step down, the government will lose its one-vote majority in Parliament.
Four other Australian politicians in recent weeks have resigned or come under scrutiny because of their citizenship, but as the country’s second-highest-ranking elected official, Mr. Joyce is the most prominent to have his citizenship called into question. In addition to being deputy prime minister, Mr. Joyce is the leader of the right-leaning National Party and a former senator. His case will be decided by Australia’s High Court.
The fact that Mr. Joyce is a New Zealand citizen was revealed by a New Zealand government minister, Peter Dunne, in an interview on Monday. The citizenship contretemps began last month when the deputy co-leaders of the Australian Greens, Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters, resigned from the Senate after they discovered that they were dual citizens. Ms. Waters, who in May became a trending topic around the world after she breast-fed her daughter in Parliament, turned out to have Canadian citizenship. Mr. Ludlam, like Mr. Joyce, has New Zealand citizenship.
A New Zealand Labour Party politician also raised questions, due to be addressed later this week, in New Zealand’s Parliament, about Australians with New Zealand citizenship. The politician, Chris Hipkins, admitted that an Australian Labor Party member had suggested he raise the questions. Then Matthew Canavan stepped down from his ministerial post, though not his Senate seat, after learning his mother had registered him for Italian citizenship, and Senator Malcolm Roberts has been forced to offer evidence that he renounced his British citizenship after documents showed he had traveled on a British passport.
Ms. Bishop accused the Australian Labor Party of contacting the New Zealand Labour Party — both left-leaning opposition parties — to suggest an investigation into Mr. Joyce’s citizenship. On Monday, Peter Dunne, a government minister in New Zealand, said in an interview that Mr. Joyce could claim citizenship in that country because his father had been born there.
Ms. Bishop specifically pointed a finger at Bill Shorten, the leader of Australia’s Labor Party, saying he used New Zealand’s Labour Party to “raise questions in a foreign parliament deliberately designed to undermine confidence in the Australian government.” On Tuesday, Ms. Bishop accused the Australian Labor Party of contacting the New Zealand Labour Party — both are left-leaning opposition parties — to suggest an inquiry into Mr. Joyce’s citizenship.
Mr. Dunne, the leader of New Zealand’s right-leaning United Future party who released the citizenship information, said claims that he was provoked to investigate by the Labour Party were “utter nonsense.” She specifically pointed a finger at Bill Shorten, the leader of Australia’s Labor Party, saying he used New Zealand’s Labour Party to “raise questions in a foreign parliament deliberately designed to undermine confidence in the Australian government.”
New Zealand is holding a general election on Sept. 23, and Ms. Bishop said her government would find it hard to work with New Zealand’s Labour Party if it won. She said the left-leaning parties in both countries had put relations between Australia and New Zealand at risk. Mr. Dunne, the leader of New Zealand’s right-leaning United Future party, said claims that he was provoked to investigate were “utter nonsense.”
But a New Zealand Labour politician, Chris Hipkins, admitted that an Australian Labor Party member had suggested that he raise the questions in New Zealand’s Parliament.
New Zealand will hold a general election on Sept. 23, and Ms. Bishop said her government would find it hard to work with New Zealand’s Labour Party if it won. She said the left-leaning parties in both countries had put relations between Australia and New Zealand at risk.
“I would find it very difficult to build trust with members of a political party that had been used by the Australian Labor Party to seek to undermine the Australian government,” she said.“I would find it very difficult to build trust with members of a political party that had been used by the Australian Labor Party to seek to undermine the Australian government,” she said.
The new leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, Jacinda Ardern, called Ms. Bishop’s accusations untrue.The new leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, Jacinda Ardern, called Ms. Bishop’s accusations untrue.
Ms. Ardern said she would “not let false claims stand in the way” of the relationship between her country and Australia. She met with Australia’s high commissioner, its highest envoy in New Zealand, on Tuesday to voice her disappointment at Ms. Bishop’s comments, and to say that the behavior of Mr. Hipkins, the New Zealand politician who raised the issue in Parliament, was unacceptable. Ms. Ardern said she would “not let false claims stand in the way” of the relationship between her country and Australia. She met with Australia’s high commissioner, its highest envoy in New Zealand, on Tuesday to voice her disappointment with Ms. Bishop’s remarks and to say that the behavior of Mr. Hipkins was unacceptable.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia said Monday that Mr. Joyce’s case showed the need for Australia’s High Court to examine the application of the constitutional provision that bars dual citizens from taking office. Mr. Turnbull said Monday that Mr. Joyce’s case showed the need for the High Court to examine the application of the constitutional provision that bars dual citizens from taking office.
Mr. Turnbull said “possibly millions” of Australians might not know they had dual citizenship with other countries. He added that “possibly millions” of Australians might not know they had dual citizenship with other countries.