Get ready for a hot take—
—two Greens senators have now resigned from office because they hold nominal citizenship of another country; New Zealand for Scott Ludlam and Canada for Larissa Waters. Some comments have focused on the incompetence of the party machine in not checking these things. Others have questioned the citizenship status of other members of parliament born overseas who may, known to them or not, technically be dual citizens.
But another line of argument has been against Section 44 of the constitution itself as somehow being outdated, nationalist fear-mongering. This opinion piece by Adam Gartrell in the SMH summarises the main points.
Of course it’s true that we have nothing to fear from New Zealand or Canada. It’s also true that given both former senators grew up in Australia and were unaware they held dual citizenship it is unlikely they held much foreign allegiance*. Many have already pointed out we would be more worried about dual citizenship with say China or Iran. Gartrell’s defence is that a person with treasonous intentions could easily renounce their foreign citizenship, pretend to be Australian, and no law can prevent it. All very true as well.
But it mistakes the principle of the thing. Citizenship is not a like a club membership giving you access and special deals. It is a moral commitment of the deepest significance. It is more like marriage in this respect. A commonwealth of citizens agree to a set of laws that they mutually impose upon each other; everything that any of us has is made possible by the protection of those laws; as such, we owe a lot back to the commonwealth, in obedience to the law, in taxes, and in the most extreme cases, even our lives.
(I might clarify here that our first duty is to the good of the commonwealth not necessarily its laws as they may be, nor to the government of the day.)
Dual citizenship is a fait accompli in a world with ever increasing global movements of people. It is understandable, as Gartrell notes, that people wish to retain a connection to their heritage and I think there is great cultural and political value in having many people with many different ties around the world. But I also think it’s imperative that people feel their responsibility as a member of a particular polity. It is a feeling that I think is necessary for a sense of democratic ownership of the state and its laws and we let it weaken to our peril.
*I am aware that technically other Commonwealth countries are not considered foreign.