It's not specifically about 44(i): this whole section 44 must go because it limits the ability of citizens to freely select their representative.

Forget about the false "rights" of candidates and parliamentarians: what about the right of ordinary people to be represented?

Dual citizenship should be abolished immediately. No exceptions. There is enough disloyalty from people who are only Australian - constantly displayed by certain posters on OLO - without encouraging immigrants and people with sentimental attachments to places they have never been to have five bob each way on citizenship.

It's a veritable can of worms Don! As is the black letter interpretation of it that demonstrably bastardises the intention of the original (foreign) writers who crafted this wordy document.

Which when written, in no way, shape or form, excluded any citizen who shared our, (now foreign) head of state. And as such confounds the no reasonable man assumption, that normally guides most judges?

I believe this nonsense has quite a way to go, as will be the varying interpretation of successive high court Justices, and can only be fixed by a referendum, so imperious black letter law cannot be used to deny someone born here!

I was thinking just the other day of, apparently New Zealand Born of apparently Danish parents, Joh Bjelke Petersen. And the very popular Joh for PM campaign. Where had he been successful, could have seen him in contravention of section 44, on two counts?

As would it also, if applied quite literally to any of Queen Elizabeth's sons or daughters even if they became new Australians, without renouncing their British citizenship! And Greek heritage!

Both of which would have been equally absurd and a ridiculous interpretation, if the, any reasonable man, test could have applied? And clearly missing, in my view, on this occasion?

Without question, this particular can of worms is going to be opened from time to time, as and when, as on this occasion, when politically expedient? And needs a referendum and clear country wide by bipartisan support to ensure its passage?
Get well soon Don.
Alan B.

People aren't free on our roads and get police pursuit for doing 120 through Woolworths in a borrowed AWD Kluger with bull-bars. Can't do time in Canberra and clink / C-link .

"And in the Commonwealth, a person cannot take office if convicted and under sentence for a crime 'punishable' by a sentence of more than a year, thus linking disqualification not only to the person's actual sentence but to the maximum sentence for the crime.

History has shown that Australians are prepared to elect to office people who have been convicted and spent time in jail. Indeed the person chosen to give the address in reply to the Governor-General's speech in the very first federal parliament was also the only federal MP who had been transported to Australia as a convict, a man who furthermore had been convicted of theft while in Australia, William Groom."

If she's convicted of a 1yr jail offence and tells nobody is the law wrong or the pollie? Britain made the constitution , so a foreign power tells us everything about Honourable Members...don't hear "honourable" much these days , is that because they were too pig lazy to fill in a form to check the obvious about mum and dad?

We must apply this to all levels of the bureaucracy, including councils, & have none of these bob each way folk working, [or not] in any area with access to private or secret information.

This may not actually improve the standard of bureaucrats, but it is a neat way of making a most necessary reduction to the numbers on the tax payer payroll.

It should also be mandatory that part of the citizenship requirements be that any applicant show proof they have renounced & eliminated any foreign citizenship they may have held.

We should also have a law that no Australian born person can become a citizen of any other country, without first renouncing their Oz citizenship. That should effectively eliminate the Barnaby situation.

China gets all its info by dialling up Aust Defence Force and reading the files. There were 2 dozen British citizens who spied on behalf of Soviet Union and R Snowden did it from US. The US protected itself by asking migrants are you a commie and when they said "yes sir" the game was up.