Peter O'Neill's Australian citizenship will be questioned in Parliament

By Bryan Kramer - Madang MP

AN ISSUE OF CITIZENSHIP

Yesterday I posted an article accusing Prime Minister Peter O'Neill of being an Australian citizen and holding a current Australian passport.

An issue he has yet to publicly dispute, which I do not expect him to.


In response to the article I noted a number of Pro-O'Neill posts authored by persons hiding behind fake accounts refuting my claims by posting a picture purportedly of O'Neill taken in his teenage years in Pangia Electorate.

There were also posts questioning my citizenship status.

So that there is no confusion I never claimed O'Neill wasn't a PNG Citizen or that he wasn't born in PNG.

The issue is whether he is also an Australian citizen. While the law now provides for dual citizenship it does not allow for them to vote or be elected to be Members of Parliament, let alone a Prime Minister.

There are thousands of mix race Papua New Guineans born in PNG to an Australian parent holding both PNG and Australian passports. However, once they reach the age of 19 they are required to either renounce their PNG or Australian citizenship.

O'Neill was born on 13 February 1965 before Papua New Guinea obtained independence, a time when PNG was considered a territory of Australia and everyone a citizen of Australia.

I was born in November 1975 in Madang Modilon Hospital, two months after Independence, so I've only always been a Papua New Guinean citizen. I've never held any other passport other than the Independent State of Papua New Guinea.

Unfortunately, the same can't be said about O'Neill who was foolish enough to invoke his Australian citizenship by decent and renew his Australian passport therefore effectively disqualifying him to be a Member of Parliament and Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.

I have no doubt O'Neill is panicking following my posts and so he should. I'm also certain he will be considering his options, I can tell him there isn't any. 

He can expect to be questioned on the floor of parliament when Parliament reconvenes on Tuesday 28th May 2019 and that his citizenship status will also be raised on the floor of Australian Parliament.