Monash University Media Release
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is considering holding a referendum to allow dual nationals who break the law to have their citizenship stripped by ministers, if he wins the federal election.
Luke Beck, Professor of Constitutional Law, Monash University says:
“Dual citizens can already lose their Australian citizenship if they commit terrorism offences.
“A court can – if the government asks it to – strip a dual citizen of their Australian citizenship as part of the sentencing process for serious crimes such as terrorism and foreign incursions.
“In deciding whether to impose this punishment, the court must be satisfied the person’s crime was ‘so serious and significant that it demonstrates that the person has repudiated their allegiance to Australia’.
“In other words, dual citizen terrorists can already lose their Australian citizenship.
“An important limitation on the federal parliament’s law making power is keeping federal judicial power separate from the power of the parliament and the executive. This is called the ‘separation of powers’.
“The separation of federal judicial power is an important constitutional concept. The idea is that it prevents the parliament or government ministers interfering in the role of the courts or usurping the role of the courts.
“Peter Dutton’s comments suggest he wants government ministers – rather than courts – to impose the punishment of removing citizenship. He hasn’t said why or what purpose this would serve, apart from ‘keeping our country safe’.
“The only way to allow federal ministers to impose punishments is to change the Constitution through a referendum that inserts a new provision overriding separation of powers rules.
“Given Australia’s long history of defeated referendums, such a vote is unlikely to succeed.”
Read Professor Beck’s full analysis in Monash Lens
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Boofhead Dutton is nothing if not a world champion brain farter.He’s flinging shit in all directions, hoping for something to stick.Like their campaign slogan”Getting Australia back on track”What? back to the most incompetent and corrupt pack of imbeciles the country has ever seen?Of which Dutton was one of the worst (in a crowded field).Get back to that?Does he think no one can remember three years ago? The voters of Dickson can put us all out our misery by punting this halfwit into oblivion.
Just like his thought bubble on “Nucular for Australia” this latest pitch to the un and il-informed is just another diversion from Spuddley’s complete inability to connect with Australia.
Why offer up the concept of a referendum on something that already happens? Because the election is coming and he is bereft of any real policy that will have any meaningful impact on Australians. So…. “Hey Australia, Vote for ME and I’ll give you a vote for ………”
Is Albanese a good prime minister. FUCK, NO !!!!. In my opinion he is not even a good politician, and should just bugger off, get married, and take his mining industry sinecure before it goes away. That is not the point.
Is Dutton a good politician. Possibly. Probably even. He plays the hard ball game pretty seriously, but we haven’t seen his gently, gently yet, and his previous form as a Qld copper might suggest that that component is seriously lacking. Would he make any sort of PM ?
FUCK NO !!!!….but he seems to think that if he blows enough smoke, come election day Australia won’t be able to see him for what he truly is. And what he really IS NOT.
Thank you for this article exposing the stupidity of this brainfart from Dutton.
As explained by the author we adhere to the important principle of the separation of powers in this country which among other things means that politicians cannot exercise judicial powers and penalise citizens (unlike the orange utter in the Whitehouse) that is the province of the courts and our judges and as far as I’m concerned that is the way it should remain.
About a third of our population are dual citizens and for Dutton to get his way would mean that he could decide who stays and who he can deport. I’m a dual citizen having been born in the UK but I have been an Australian citizen for over fifty years – Dutton wants the power to strip that citizenship so that he or another politician has the power to deport me should he consider that my behaviour warrants it.
Leave the courts to do their work and keep the likes of Dutton out of the Lodge.
OK, proposed referendum question: Do you support the immediate deportation of Peter Dutton?
I reckon that would be a winner.
Jeez, the Spud is brain farting so hard and fast he could play a rousing orchestral wind section rendition of “Send in the Clowns” and have enough gas left over to power a barbeque for several hours.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/warning-dutton-s-referendum-could-give-ministers-too-much-power-20250319-p5lknt.html
Dutton* and team have been clearly inspired by the joint Atlas-Koch Heritage and Tanton Networks’ Project2025, see Stephen Miller et al. and US deportations; similar has been done in Oz, had been threatened by UK Tories on Rwanda and with Farage & Reform (another Tanton symtpom).
One of the most influential ideological sources has been Jean Raspail’s racist screed ‘Camp of the Saints’, followed by Bannon, Miller, Musk, Le Pen, Orbán et al.; published by Tanton’s TSCP described by SPLC as:
‘The Social Contract Press (TSCP) routinely publishes race-baiting articles penned by white nationalists. The press is a program of U.S. Inc, the foundation created by John Tanton, the racist founder and principal ideologue of the modern nativist movement. TSCP puts an academic veneer of legitimacy over what are essentially racist arguments about the inferiority of today’s immigrants.’
*Coincidentally when Dutton was Minister of Home Affairs the ABF Terror Unit applied for the same ‘Camp of the Saints’ to be reclassified from ‘Mature’ to ‘Unrestricted’ during Covid in 2021?
Is it electoral tactics or ideology?