"Federal Labor MP David Feeney has resigned from parliament after being unable to confirm if he is a dual citizen.

Mr Feeney said he had written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Thursday and his resignation was effective immediately.

He said he did not have sufficient paperwork to prove he had renounced his British citizenship a decade ago, inherited through his Northern Irish father." SBS News.

He doesn't seem to be aware that he also has Republic of Ireland citizenship as well, as his father was born in Ireland.

How many more?

Hey BILL!!

There never was any paper work. Shorten was soooo sure that there were no dual citizens on the Labor benches.

Issy, look at the bright side The Greens will win the by-election.

Hi there PAUL1405...

I don't wish to offend you my friend, but the thought of strengthening a Political Party that has an individual, analogous to that of Ms. Sarah HANSON-YOUNG running about 'unrestrained', mortify's me, like none other! She's potentially very dangerous with her entire lack of subtlety and discretion, together with that completely unbridled mouth of hers?

Can't the Party dis-endorse her? Her continued presence, will always prove to be a veritable cable-tow, and will continue to drag the Greens right down. Not only as a result of her unpredictable behaviour, but because of the bizarre and zany statements she makes. Often and regrettably, without any thought at all, about what it is she says? I recall you agreed with me at the time Paul. As I said at the outset, I don't mean to offend you Paul.

Hi o sung wu,

Nothing in politics offends me, or surprises me, therefore no offence taken. To answer your question;

Can't the Party dis-endorse her? Under normal circumstances the short answer is no. The Party is the membership, and as the Greens are a democratic, grass roots party. it is the membership which endorses candidates seeking political office. Unlike both the Labor and the Liberal Parties which often bypass the rank and file membership to "parachute" people into a position, the Greens constitution specifically forbids that practice. Any member so qualified has the right to nominate, and then face the scrutiny of the membership to determine their suitability. That is how it should be.

just to add,

In politics you do not always get the politicians you want, not even from your own party. Let me say, no politician is a Ten, but then again I don't think any of our law makers are a complete Zero. All have their own "style", sometimes its acceptable, sometimes not.

Put it this way, when you were in the force, there were coppers you liked, (friends/mates) and I'm sure there were those you didn't, but they were all there doing essentially the same job as you. with the same aims and objectives as you, to uphold and enforce the law.

In over 40 years of politics, I have seen some very good people defeated at the polls, for no other reason than they were in the wrong party at the time. Even though I see myself in the main, as a progressive socialists, for want of a better tag, therefore not a great supporter of the conservative side of politics. I have seen a few candidates from the Liberal Party who have been defeated at the ballot, yet on ability they would be a clear winner. That is one of the disadvantages of democracy, you get what the majority vote for, not necessarily the best person.

How interesting Paul.

So what you are telling us is that the Greens are hamstrung by their own constitution. They can't get rid of a renegade, no matter how traitorous to Australia, without a huge, & unlike kerfuffle, difficult to start, & so hugely damaging to the party, it is unlikely to occur.

I guess as the last home for communists, there are enough traitors in there to fight any attempt to remove a renegade, making such a move extremely unattractive, even to those who know what needs to be done. Do enjoy that cesspool to which you belong.

It's funny how different people see the same things and same people differently. Paul believes there are no or few 'zero' politicians, while I see most of the mongrels as zeros, and it doesn't matter what gang they belong to.

I note that Feeney's seat has only a 1% margin. Given that Labor and Liberal are on the nose, and the idiot Australian population is moving further to the left, we could be about to see our political misfortunes increase further with Green getting in.

'morning to you PAUL1405...

Thank you for your most comprehensive answer to my question, as you can see my knowledge of politics is nought, so generally speaking I try to avoid taking any sort of line or argument in it, especially when our good friend and colleague POIROT was about.

In this instance I was actually targeting Ms HANSEN-YOUNG as possibly a real impediment in the Party's credibility and progress, occasioned by some of the ridiculous statements she's made, which surely must not augur well for the Party's image? I'm not sure whether she's the official Spokesperson for anything to do with the Party's Policy position or not?

Thanks a lot mate, I appreciate the comprehensive lengths you went to, in furnishing your explanation.

Hi Hassy, been silly again

What a silly thing to say; "So what you are telling us is that the Greens are hamstrung by their own constitution,,.yarda,,,yarda,,,yarda

No political party can remove a parliamentarian during their term of office. Once elected you are there until the next election, unless you resign, die, violate the constitution, or be convicted of a criminal offence.

To give you an example. If The Crazy Party were to endorse a Mr Hazzy, and Mr Hazzy was elected. Then the Crazy Party realized Mr Hazzy was really crazy and a total nincompoop to boot, other than expel Mr Hazzy from the party, and dis-endorse him at the next election, there is nothing they could do about it. Mr Hassy would then sit on the cross benches with the rest of the odd bods.

Hi ttbn,

I think you are a little unkind to our politicians, believing that most of the mongrels are zeros. Even the most unlikely polys in my book, Pauline Hanson or your bloke Corny Banana, at times have something worthwhile to contribute. Bob (The Mad) Katter, I may not agree with his politics but Bob adds to the national debate on issues, and is staunch when it comes to his mob in the back blocks of Queensland.

Even old Money Bags Malcolm, you my not agree with him, you may not like him, but give him credit for the amount of effort he puts in for Australia as Prime Minister. I am sure at his age he could retire to the Island of Bermuda (probably buy it) and live happily ever after.

Hi o sung wu,

Don't mention it, always like to assists whenever I can.
On politicians, I met a very nice young bloke yesterday at the 'Waitangi Day' celebrations in Sydney. A new member of the new New Zealand Government. A young Maori fellow, Tamati Coffey member for Wairiki, made the long trip to Australia, just for the day. If commitment and determination count for anything, after a good talk with him, I would say a few more like Tamati, and the NZ government can't fail.

p/s 'Waitangi Day' in Sydney is a great advert for the success of multiculturalism in Australia.

Paul,

I have no kindness to spare for politicians, subhuman in my book. All self, no brains and no integrity. And, being a a conservative doesn't make me like Bernadi either; he is a an arrogant boofhead with the personality of a dead fish. He might be useful, that's all. Turnbull? A truly awful person, almost autistic. The worst PM ever, and that's even when he is compared with Rudd and Gillard. PM by deceit, he has wrecked the Coalition, and he is wrecking Australia. I cannot condemn politicians enough.

Hi there Paul...

Thank you for appraising me of your attendance at Sydney's version of 'Waitangi Day'. In my spare time, one of my main hobbies, a hobby I've engaged in for half a century now, is that of Numismatics. And you may or may not know, one of the most valuable Coins in the NZ specific coinage; is known as the 'Waitangi Crown' with a face value of 5 shillings or 50 cents today.

To obtain such a coin you'd need to pay around $18,000 AUD to $20,000 AUD for a reasonable example, and personally I think it to be one of NZ most attractive coins. And to answer your question, no I don't have one, it's well outside my means, for a single coin, still doesn't mean I can't lust after one though nevertheless. *I apologise for being well off topic.*

Did you suddenly realise you were talking garbage Paul. There have been quite a few members expelled from the Labor party.

Are the Labor party stronger & more principled than the Greens? Well of course they are. I suppose the Greens with so few members are very loath to chuck one out, no matter what their conduct.

ttbn, I just can not agree with that summation you make of our politicians. I don't know how many you have met, or had dealing with, In my case quite a few of all political persuasions, and in the main they are not that bad a people. Is there any poly you actually like?

Hassy, out there in La La Land again. "There have been quite a few members expelled from the Labor party." YES let me agree, and how many Labor parliamentarians has the LABOR PARTY ever sacked from any Australian Parliament? The answer is ZERO, political parties simply do not have the power to do so, DO... YOU... UNDERSTAND? And your point is? Talk about talking to a brick wall. A kindergarten kid could understand, am I getting through to you, probably not. Some people are...well...thick as two bricks!

Hassy why don't you join The Greens, then I am sure you could be the first we chuck out.

That is interesting o sung wu, 'Waitangi Crown' with a face value of 5 shillings. Like Australia's first "official" coin(s) the "Holey Dollar" and the "dump" the bit punched out of the middle, interesting its call the Holey Dollar and not the Holy Pound. Governor Macquarie hoped it would put an end to rum as the colonies means of exchange. Macquarie was smart he made the combine value of the HD and dump, 25% great that the face value of the Spanish Dollars from which they were made, thus making it non commercial to export the coins, you get 25% more in value in NSW. Macquarie had not embraced Americanism with the use of the term dollar, the dump was worth a quarter value. Of the nearly 40,000 minted, experts estimate that only 350 Holey dollars, and 1500 dumps remain.

Paul,

You don't have to agree, of course, but I am sticking to my opinion of all politicians.

Hi there Paul...

You're full of surprises with your knowledge of early Australian Coinage! And you're nearly right when you say the 1813 Colonial Holey Dollar & Dump, were Oz's first official coinage. Actually the 'Proclamation Coins' were the very first coming out, as they did with the First Fleet. Among them were; one gold Guinea (from GB); a silver shilling (from GB); one Penny(from GB); a silver Guilder (from the Netherlands) and several other coins, coming from the Netherlands and India.
I'll be shot for carrying on 'OFF Topic' as I have! My apologies IS MISE.

Thanks for that o sung wu. interesting it is. I did know there were coins in circulation from early times (1788). I'll give Macquarie the credit of "producing" Australia's first uniquely Australian coinage. Interesting that at the time the "official" cash liquidity of the colony was set at around $25,000 in today terms.
from early records, it seems rum was valued at 2 pounds/gallon. A wife could be "purchased" for 4 gallons of rum. A little correction the Spanish Dollars used by Macquarie were actually Mexican (Spanish) Dollars. 10,000 pounds worth arrived on board H.M.S. Samarang in 1812, how they were obtained I don't know.

o sung wu,

"I'll be shot for carrying on 'OFF Topic' as I have! My apologies IS MISE."

Only with a blank!

Where would we be if it were not for the often very interesting (as this is) 'Off Topics'?

Thanks a lot...PAUL1405.