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Originally Posted by talaniman

Give them a seat at the table. Naw, you could NEVER do that because you would have to listen to their concerns. Only a racist could think that a seat or two according to population would lead to a minority directing policy. I guess you will have to keep suppressing them until you find that solution, that will keep suppressing them.

You can stop wasting your time "debating" because the present system works just fine doesn't it? The problem really is how to get MORE for you and less for them. Be easy if they would just bend a knee to your dominance and do as they were told. That would solve your problem wouldn't it?

We are alike in our racists democracies.

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I think you are racist Tal, they are not excluded from the electoral process and have Senators and Representatives, but reserved seating is something else, so is the suggestion of a third chamber, a sort of native House of Lords as might operate in that failed nation Fiji. We do use proportional representation in our voting system and it elects the Senate and there are a number of minor parties which makes governing difficult. I notice that your founding fathers never saw the need to include your indigenous population in this way, you saw war and extermination as a much more effective measure even in regard to those who you had treaties with and were peaceful

As to the present system working fine, it works about as fine as yours, but we do seem to have the ability to pass important legislation from time to time. The present debacle is the result of using a constitutional mechanism to resolve deadlocks

Yeah we are barbarian still, despite the suits and cognac. We can pass stuff when its important, sometimes. I blame it on the cognac though, not the constitution. On second thought it's probably the politicians who drink the cognac.

What do you guys drink?

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Originally Posted by talaniman

What do you guys drink?

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Well, myself, I don't mind Scots Whisky, but the general populace enjoys Beer, Wine, Vodka, almost anything. Can't really say what the pollys drink, probably too much chardonny

In a further development Bill Shorten , leader of the Labor Party and the opposition, was questioned by Tony Jones on the Q&A programme about his citizenship status after he claimed he had renounced British citizenship in 2006. It seems we are going to have to question all these 10 pound poms and their children who have made it into parliament

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politi...21-gy15xu.html

We just went through a "birther" phase here Clete when Barrack Obama was elected president and his place of birth questioned mostly by Donald Trumpwhomade a huge stink about it. I bet that's where your genius politicians got the idea from to challenge their opponents.

It's a form of "papers please" used for ILLEGAL immigrants. Seem to work better in your country than it did in mine.

BUMMER!

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Originally Posted by talaniman

We just went through a "birther" phase here Clete when Barrack Obama was elected president and his place of birth questioned mostly by Donald Trumpwhomade a huge stink about it. I bet that's where your genius politicians got the idea from to challenge their opponents.

It's a form of "papers please" used for ILLEGAL immigrants. Seem to work better in your country than it did in mine.

BUMMER!

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No, Tal, our politicians are neither geniuii nor borrowers of this particular idea, it started with some greens politicians, people not noted for their intelligence, realising that they did not comply with the Constitutional requirement of one allegiance. Since that time various other politicians have examined their linage, and its implications, and this has taken on the trappings of comic opera.

I myself am both entitled to first class british citizenship by reason of parentage, my father having left the sceptured isle more than a century ago, and second class british citizenship having being born a british subject in the Commonwealth (empire). My Australian citizenship offers far more, really, especially since it entitles me to reside far from the maddened crown

Like I said... BUMMER!

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Originally Posted by talaniman

Like I said... BUMMER!

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Yes, well there are more bummers than that, Malcolm is swinging on Donald's coat tales criticising Kim and agreeing to add some token troops to Afghanistan while preparing to ask us what we think about gay marriage in a non binding plebesite. He's hoping the electorate will endorse what he is afraid to put to a vote. Since he had the Shlt kicked out of him in the republic plebesite he is reluctant to do anything the public don't approve of. Personally I'm agin it, and so I expect are at least 60% of the electorate.

This is unbelievable
Derryn Hinch faces Section 44 uncertainty over US social security card - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Yet another caught out

They should all be detained pending deportation in a detention camp with the rest of the illegals!

Not quite the understanding of dual citizenship, Tal, there is no criminal offense of sitting in the Parliament without qualification, perhaps there should be, but then, many more might be disqualified on other grounds. Hinch, for example, was incarcerated for Contempt of court, should he be disqualified as a felon

Well here's a new turn, and we are told not to preempt the High Court decision. The X man, Nick Xenophon has announced that after the High Court decision, he will resign from the Senate to seek a seat in the South Australian parliament, South Australian being where all the action is these days. It certainly has produced a crop of ineligible Senators

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-0...r-flip/9022354

I don't know what this tells us, he is ineligible to sit in the Senate, or he is having his cake and eating it too, as the rules will mean his party retains the Senate seat and he retains his influence in federal affairs while being a real nuiance in local affairs. I do know he should be sited for contempt for wasting the courts time

The day of reckoning is coming, Friday is the day when we find out who is out, like we have three down already, and the Parliament could turn into more of a farce that it already is, today the government went on a witch hunt to find the illegal dealings of the Leader of the Opposition before he joined the Parliament, a glowing ember with much smoke. Inditement would mean he's out too

You seem to have a process in place for dealing with these unexpected political events despite the drama and hand wringing.

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Originally Posted by talaniman

You seem to have a process in place for dealing with these unexpected political events despite the drama and hand wringing.

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Yes we have long abandoned the kangaroo court of the Senate Select Committee for the Supreme Court and the legal process of Royal Commission. I think you might have similar processes but ours are less politicised usually. Our Mr Shorten was a union leader and as we have found with past leaders walking that road to power, there are often dealings with union funds that won't stand scrutiny. In the days of Julia Gillard as Prime Minister, the equivalent of your President, she was continually dogged by inquiry into her dealings as a union lawyer, Shorten's dealings have long been open to scrutiny, but have thus far been exposed as shady deals without evidence of outright criminal activity. This leads the Prime Minister to often shout across the dispatch box "would you trust this man" followed by a listing of shady deals

I hope your voters are smarter than ours and can ignore the distraction of personal attacks and get to issues. Drama is fine theater though for the uninformed looney fringe that have plenty of agenda but no facts.

Okay we have a lot more loonies, but that's only because we are much bigger.

The loonies and the crooks are everywhere Tal but our Union movement seems to attract them like honey. These darlings of the left then move on to grace our parliament

Yes they are, but consider, the right wing loonies have always accused the left wing loonies of corrupting the process... and VICE VERSA. Consider also, they both ignore their own lunacy. Its been that way for a long time here, and seems to be a common theme there as well.

Catastrophy

A catastrophic day for the conservative edge

Citizenship Seven: High Court rules Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce ineligible to serve in Parliament - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Five of the seven miscreetes are out on their nellies, and the consequences could be huge

The Deputy Prime Minister has got the boot, Senators fall to the right and to the left, vital legislation will be shelved. The Senate isn't as serious an issue as losing the DPM, his loss puts Liberal rule at risk, whereas the Senators will be replaced by candidates from the same party, but decisions will have to be held in abeyance until they take their seats and will there be a penalty such as repaying parliamentary salaries

Tony Windsor will be back to antagonise Barnaby Joyce in the bi-election. This is a bad climate to hold a bi-election

We now have another head pop up Liberal Senator Stephen Parry who is checking if he is a UK citizen. His circumstance is the same as mine, his father migrated from the UK, so he doesn't need to ask, he is a UK citizen, so he shouldn't even been on the election ticket and this means a recount, in fact it means a recount for all the Senators found out. They can't resolve it by resigning and have their places taken by someone from the same party, the votes have to be recounted and in Parry's case this would mean the election of two different Senators from Tasmania, but you can't unseat a siting Senator duly elected, so back to the High Court to have it resolved as to who takes the vacant seat. But I have to ask, some of these dills have been in the parliament for years, and so have sat in multiple parliaments. What does this mean for the validity of legislation passed?

This is further complicated as some unelected candidates took public service jobs after the election and you cannot be elected if you hold an office for profit