"I thought she was Australian".... "I can see this coming to another disaster, they just need to look at her Kenyan passport, from what I've heard." and "Dual Citizenship and not born in Australia, out".

This is despite Kenya's High Commissioner to Australia saying Senator Lucy Gichuhi automatically lost her Kenyan citizenship when she became an Australian citizen.

Major political parties, like Labor and Liberal generally do not select candidates from countries like Kenya, particularly in the lower house of Federal Parliament, as they know the majority of Australians are Anglo-Saxon and simply will not vote for people of other cultural backgrounds during an election.

As for the Labor Party, questioning this matter further by going to court, what a disgrace.

Family First was dumb to put this woman on their ticket. She is a bridge to far, no matter what she is like personally. Given the disgust for the major parties and cross-bench idiots, Family First stood a good chance of gaining some ground. They have blown it.

No, ttbn, they haven't blown it - they've still got a senator, and they never realistically had much chance of getting more than one senator at a time.

The ALP challenged her eligibility because they had a remote chance of getting her seat. Given what was at stake, I'd've done the same if I were in their position, but it's not in the least bit surprising that the court declared the challenge to be baseless.

Her race and background are a non issue; she represents SA, not Victoria!

ttbn,

Is your main concern that as a senator she "stands out from the crowd?"

The rest of your post seems filled with comments about someone you know very little about.

Nathan,

If by “standing out from the crowd” you mean a non-Australian-born person with barely intelligible English – yes. I do not believe that non-Australian born people should be in Parliament. I know that there is no law against it, but I will not vote for them. I feel exactly the same way about Coalition member, Mathias Cormann.

What do you mean by “The rest of your post seems filled with comments about someone you know very little about”. Do you know something about this woman that I and others do not? Do you feel that you have some insight into what I know and what I don't know? What should I know to qualify for commenting, in your view?

Aidan,

They have an unelected senator who probably won't be returned when the voters have a say.

As you will see from above, I believe her background, not race, is definitely an issue.

I am totally at a loss as to what your “she represents SA, not Victoria!” means. I realise that she will represent SA, not Victoria!

If the constitution stated that candidates cannot be elected if they have a pimple on their bum, then surely any competing politician would try to gain the upper hand by asking the high-court to check what other candidates have under their pants. Such is and always been the nature of politicians - they always care for their own position alone, never for the voters.

Anyway, I can only be glad that the number of dinosaurs in parliament will not increase as a result of Bob's demise and in defiance of the will of the people who elected him.