ttbn - The point that if they did not do it someone else would is irrelevant, The issue is they were not entitled to do it and by ticking the box they gained money by deception which is a criminal offense.

leoj - The high court may have ruled they were entitled to it but what about the fact they committed a criminal offense in doing so, ignorance of the law is no excuse. You go out and gain money by deception have it broadcast all over the media and see how long before the police knock at your door. I will bet the police do not even ask them any questions.

Realistically, will there be any punishment handed out, and shouldn't the government be concentrating on looking for more dual citizens? I think the offenders should be drawn and quartered, but I know nothing is going to happen to them.

Yesterday, I emailed the Prime Minister's office asking if the government would audit the Opposition for dual-citizens to turf out. That's all I can do as a private citizen, and I not going to stress out on something I have no control over.

Once again realistically doesn't come into it.

The law is the sole ruling force here.

Politicians are always very tough when it comes to other citizens making errors. They are pretty tough on the poorest people making an error.

Barnaby Joyce looked really worried the other day.

Maybe he realises that he owes the Australian taxpayer huge sums of money and because of what he has said in the past regarding Centrelink and the people who they claim owe us money, now realises that he is in big trouble both legally and financially.

It could also be argued that any rulings made by any Governments that this group of politicians have voted in is now void! They weren't entitled to vote!

Pragmatically speaking maybe any vote that these people voted in that relied on their votes to pass is void - not voiding all other votes that had the numbers without them.

Good old Boofa Turnbull said “qualified to sit in the house and the High Court will so hold”. Did he have legal advice on this, oh hang on isn't he a lawyer himself?...OOPS!

There is no way out of this situation for Boofa and his team... the law needs to be applied to all these politicians without fear or favour that is of course if the law means politicians have nothing to fear and will always be given favour over ordinary citizens.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse and the laws should be applied without fear or favour...

Politicians get away with a lot already afterall. If they overclaim on their expenses or misuse their expenses, unlike other taxopayers they simply get to pay it back. The laws against these false claims are conveniently ignored.

It's time for the average Aussie taxpayer to say enough is enough!

If this was a democracy, then citizens should have been able to elect whomever they want.

This has nothing to do with rights and privileges of candidates, but everything to do with the rights of electors.

The elected's only allegiance should be to their electors.

If the electors so choose, they should be able to send to parliament a non-citizen, a donkey, a monkey, a statue or a little girl, it's nobody else business, unless their representative is liable to eat the other representatives - and if they elect an elephant, then they need to pay out-of-pocket for expanding the parliament building.

WE already send a gaggle of geese and a posse of Turkeys or is that a gang of turkeys or a rafter of turkeys.

The way they gaggle and hang tough on the little people whilst getting away with almost anything means voting birds into parliament at least hasn't done us any good.

It is really scary what they get away with and now this little fiasco they seem to be getting away with a whole lot more.

Obviously there are "No principles in politics"!

Where are the organisations whose mandate is to chase moneys wrongly paid to people by our Government? Where is the accountability of the Politicians and their party organisations?

When will the media catch on to these legal issues and the proper outcomes for the citizens and taxpayers?

I'm agree with 'Ignorance of the law is no excuse'.

And in that I'm calling for Imprisonment, Restitution to Australian Taxpayers, and banned from politics / political lobbying for life and an inquiry into all the laws the voted in support of, given they had no right to be in Parliament, especially look at they voted in support of pro-immigrant and other pro-left causes.

I'm not necessarily denying that Australian voters voted them in, just that they had no right to stand as a candidate in the first place, and I weigh that against the idea that another illegal candidate equally appealing in their own right could have hypothetically stood for the other side at that election.

I told you all already I served 3 days in the watchouse 20 years ago for failing to vote, and I've been fined twice for not voting.

If I have to pay, do community service or be imprisoned, for a minor infraction and a revenue raise for the new government, then they can sure as well pay for a major infraction - deceiving the Australian public - standing in parliament earning top dollars when they had no right to be there or vote as a representative of the Australian people on anything.

12mths mandatory imprisonment should help them to check that box correctly.

Lets put it another way, what if you went to hospital, were operated on by a surgeon who had no right to be there...
What would you think about that?

Remember Democracy is a farce.
It's US and THEM, and theres no balance of power if they make their own rules.
If they make the rules for us, we should make the rules for them.