There’s not a huge amount the regular Australian can do about the seemingly endless stream of politicians running afoul of the Australian Constitution’s Section 44: we can either ask why the powers that be are yet to reassess that finicky piece of law, or we can have a snarky chuckle at how ridiculous it all is.
Your pals online have, by and large, chosen the latter option after Barnaby Joyce revealed he may be a Kiwi.
Scott Ludlam, the Greens senator who dropped out of Parliament after being informed of his own dual-citizensip with New Zealand, offered this take:
kia ora barnaby
— Scott Ludlam (@Scottludlam) August 14, 2017
His former party companion Adam Bandt went a step further, and posted this ominous screenshot of the New Zealand government’s own citizenship website:
Others have been way more light-hearted with the Nationals leader, imagining a world in which the Tamworth fella had to choose his allegiance:
https://twitter.com/madconnaughton/status/896896300762898432
‘Me? I’m as Aussie as a pair of jandles and a chilly bin on a summer’s day’
– Barnaby Joyce, probably pic.twitter.com/wjzZ87iAvf
— Simon Anderson (@simonjourno) August 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/JamColley/status/896892634131714048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Ftahliapritchard%2Fthe-ultimate-revenge-a-novel-by-pistol-and-boo
STILL SHOCKED ABOUT THIS BARNABY JOYCE CONTROVERSY. WE ALWAYS CONSIDERED HIM AS AUSSIE AS RUSSELL CROWE, PHAR LAP AND SPLIT ENZ #auspol
— The NT News (@TheNTNews) August 14, 2017
Of course, Joyce’s other big news story of recent memory was relitigated for laughs:
I think we all know who’s been working hardest to uncover Barnaby Joyce’s possible dual citizenship #auspol pic.twitter.com/kN6rsrdh9n
— Mitchell Scott (@MitchellBScott) August 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/heldavidson/status/896889205321678848
https://twitter.com/Phil_n_thropy/status/896903682142294016
And journo Deborah Knight even took the opportunity to air this piece from a couple of weeks back:
This was a bit of a joke question to @Barnaby_Joyce just 2 weeks ago on @TheTodayShow on whether he might have any citizenship doubts… pic.twitter.com/evZodV0aDy
— Deborah Knight (@deborah_knight) August 14, 2017
Should the High Court find Joyce is actually from across the ditch, expect the tweets to get even spicier.
