Foreign Influence in Australia.

It would be a reasonable assumption that since Federation a vast number of the politicians who we have elected to Federal parliament  have had some sort of citizenship right with another country.  At the time of Federation the majority of people who called themselves Australian had a heritage that was either from England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales.

For most of that time, we as Commonwealth citizens had automatic entry rights to the United Kingdom.  It was only when Britain entered the Common Market that this changed.  It is because of this witch hunt to identify dual citizens sitting in the Federal parliament that many citizens are surprised to find that by the birth of their parents they have an automatic rights to claim dual citizenship in another country.

The only problem with that is when our Constitution was drafted the legal minds inserted a clause that required our elected representatives to be free of any encumbrance or obligation to another country, and that is the cause of the unseating of elected representatives that is presently roiling our Federal parliament.

There is no suggestion that the people involved are other than loyal Australians and their election was perfectly valid - had they known that this citizenship anomaly existed and been revoked by their own actions.  Some have since done so and may face a fresh by-election to regain a seat that their dual citizenship declared vacant.

No doubt all future politicians will carefully examine this issue before contesting a seat but perhaps we would be wiser to simply change the Constitution to remove this anomaly.  Unfortunately, this would need a referendum  that would cost millions of dollars.

Concern about the way foreign influence is being used to shape policy in this country has the government looking at law reform.  Representatives of other countries are required to register as lobbyists and there are limits on donations to political parties but measures being considered will take this a lot further.   The government will seek to introduce a new category of " Political Campaigner " into the Electoral Act.   That may be slapped on any person or organization that may be acting undercover in using funds to influence policy decisions.

In particular, the government is looking to identify and contain shadowy contributors who are stoking fake news stories on social media such as Twitter and Facebook to create a point of view that suits the interests of a foreign government.  There is concern that this may constrict the flow of foreign donations to legitimate Australian charities if donors are forced to comply with the same disclosures and reporting requirements as a political party.

Social media has undergone an amazing change in recent years and old laws are no longer relevant. It has become evident that sophisticated departments exist in some countries specifically  concerned with influencing public opinion in target countries by manipulating the stories going to air on social media to change public thinking.  This public thinking can affect the outcome of elections, resulting in outcomes that suit foreign governments.

Social media change will continue to be constant and the laws that control it will need to keep pace. The influence on public thinking is a form of cyber warfare carried out by potential enemies.  We ignore it at or peril  !