One can only wonder what a furore we would have witnessed if it was Julia Gillard’s citizenship we were querying. I suspect the entire future of the known universe would be in peril should it not be resolved, or at least the economic future of Australia. There would be relentless cries of ‘foul’ from the Coalition who would be screaming for her blood. Conservative shock jocks would be hysterical in their condemnation. But because it is a conservative prime minister who is under scrutiny, there is barely a ripple from the MSM Mainstream Media.
Requests thus far by Tony Magrathea, a Queensland blogger, to have Abbott’s RN form released have been rejected. This, on its own, raises serious questions. Why won’t Abbott’s office produce evidence to show that any suggestion he was ineligible, is false?Peta Credlin rejected his request stating,
“The document you have sought is not an official document of a Minister and therefore there is no right of access to the document under the FOI Act.”Ninemsm also asked for confirmation that the Prime Minister had renounced his British Citizenship. They were advised by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet that, “The Prime Minister is an Australian citizen and does not hold citizenship of any other country.” This, of course, does not answer the question. It does not tell us the date of his renunciation.
The ramifications of not resolving this issue are far from minor. Constitutional law expert, Professor Augusto Zimmerman of Murdoch University suggests that if Abbott had renounced his British citizenship after 1994, his legal position as a current member would be unclear. “That would require some serious consideration by a number of legal experts,” he told me over the phone.
Surely Tony Abbott, who became an Australian citizen in 1981 at the age of 24, would not want to be the subject of a High Court challenge over his eligibility. All he needs to do is produce his RN form.
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