Senator hurt by mother’s decision
AUSTRALIA: Australian Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce believes it is a huge stretch for one of the government’s rising stars to have been signed up for Italian citizenship, despite never seeing documents or having been to Italy.
Joyce is taking over the resources and Northern Australia portfolios from Matt Canavan, who resigned on Tuesday, saying he had just discovered that his mother made him an Italian 11 years ago.
She registered herself and members of her family as an ‘‘Italian resident abroad’’ - a form of citizenship - with the Italian consulate in Brisbane in 2006, but Canavan, who was 25 at the time, did not authorise it.
Joyce, who has known and worked with Canavan for years and is godfather to one of his children, said the family had a discussion but Canavan expressed no desire to become an Italian citizen.
The government will now await the outcome of a High Court verdict, but Joyce is already questioning the validity of the registration.
‘‘The premise being, how can you be signed up for something you never signed up for? That you never actually knew about?’’ he said yesterday.
Last week, Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters resigned after it was discovered they held dual citizenship, with New Zealand and Canada respectively. Canavan, who was promoted to cabinet last year after just two years in parliament, will still serve as a senator while the court decides his fate. – AAP