With the debacle over whether certain politicians were allowed to be politicians now decided by the High Court - Houston we have a problem!

"IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE" - This is one of the fundamental tenants on which all laws rely.

A couple of examples :

If you do a U turn at an intersection that is illegal you can't claim "I didn't know the law officer" you will be fined for the breach. It is that simple.

If you wrongly claim moneys from any Government Department especially Centrelink for example you have to pay all the money back, no ifs no buts - Ignorance of the law is no excuse!

You could also be charged with defrauding the Commonwealth, whether you knew what you were doing was wrong or not - Ignorance of the law is no excuse!

So if we are going to ruthlessly apply the law to the poorer people in our society shouldn't the highly paid politicians have to abide by the same rules and obligations?

Shouldn't the politicians who have been collecting large amounts of money and benefits from the Government whilst they were in breach of the constitution have to pay everything back?

Here is what Barnaby said about people who owed Centrelink money!

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/no-apology-from-barnaby-joyce-as-government-doubles-down-on-centrelink-debt-clawback-20170106-gtmzaw.html

So if the little people are forced to pay back these wrongly paid moneys shouldn't Barnaby and other politicians have to do the same thing?

Political parties whom these politicians represent have a whole organisation behind them to check the legal situation of each member.

The little people don't!

Does Australia have separate rules for Politicians than those that apply to the ordinary tax payers who fund them? Do wealthy pollies deserve better treatment than poor Centrelink recipients?

This is a great principle test for our pollies...

Have the debt collection letters been sent out already?...

Just asking

Quote "IGNORANCE OF THE LAW IS NO EXCUSE" In the world as it is you forget money talks louder than almost anything it is only surpassed by knowing secrets that people in authority do not want known publicly.

So nothing will happen.

One thing that should happen is they are ineligible to run again, bet that does not happen as well.

The law and government are not there for the average person, they are for big business and the rich.

Can anyone prove me wrong or put forward arguments to the contrary.

This is not about "ignorance of the law".
It should be about the removal of an antiquated law.

I'm sure that in most cases these people genuinely
did not know they were not Australian citizens.
That particular law is antiquated and should have
been removed decades ago. It served its purpose in
the time in which it existed. It is no longer
relevant today.

No. Our politicians were not "illegally elected,"
utter nonsense. And No, they should not be required
to pay back any money. They did work during their time
in office.

Remove that antiquated law.

Right "illegally elected," maybe should have been "they illegally applied for position they were not elegable to apply for" bit long for heading.

They should have been aware of the citizenship rules.

Simple FACT Ignorance is no excuse.

The point the law is outdated is nothing to do with it as it is the law of the moment and as the court ruled so, politician should have changed it.

The law should be changed.

Please please please New Zealand, won't you discover that you had granted citizenship to both Turnbull & Shorten, years ago. Apparently you can claim anyone you like as a citizen, & we would love to get rid of them.

Surely you could do something right, for a change.