The recent High Court decisions on ineligibility of politicians merely enforces some of the provisions of Section 44(i) of the Australian Constitution. But the final two provisions of Section 44(i) have so far been ignored:

“or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights & privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign power”

In 1950, Israel’s Knesset passed a Right of Return law, beginning with a few simple words: “Every Jew has the right to immigrate to this country…”. On this basis, all Jews become eternally ineligible to enter the Federal Parliament of Australia.

If every Jew has the right to immigrate and to become a citizen of Israel, they clearly have “the rights and privileges of a citizen of a foreign power” and these are rights that are not renouncible because that would require Israel to abolish its Right of Return.

Perhaps Section 44(i) of the Constitution will solve another problem for us. If it is ultimately shown that only indigenous people have the right to be parliamentarians, we won’t need to recognise them in the Constitution as they will be the government and can make laws as they please.