Prime Minister Peter O'Neill is an Australian citizen holding a current Australian passport giving effect to the fact he is illegally a Member of Parliament and therefore illegally occupying the office of Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea.
An issue I've been tracking for awhile and recently confirmed from numerous independent sources.
While many may find it hard to believe, it comes as no surprise, soon after being elected Prime Minister in 2012 O'Neill made it a priory of his Government to amend our laws to provide for dual citizenship.
In January 2014 he used numerical strength on the floor of Parliament to bulldoze amendments to our Constitution to provide for dual citizenship.
However the procedural and regulatory legislation (Act of Parliament) wasn't passed until two years later in April 2016.
I guess the delay was because in March 2014 he was busy avoiding arrest on corruption charges.
While Constitution now provides for dual citizenship the regulation states that:
"If you are a PNG Citizen who holds Dual Citizenship your rights are limited under PNG’s Constitution (Sections 50, 51 & 65). Dual Citizens do not have the right to vote in elections, hold public office positions or acquire freehold land."
With that in mind, O'Neill being an Australian citizen does not qualify to be a Member of Parliament or Prime Minister and therefore illegally occupying both offices.
When did O'Neill become a Australian citizen?
I suspect he acquired it by decent from his Australian father, and secretly held it even before being elected in Parliament in 2002.
In 2018 High Court of Australia ruled that that Australian Labour Senator Katy Gallagher was ineligible to be a Member of Parliament because she failed to renounce her British citizenship before nominating to contest the election. Following the Courts decision four other Australian Members of Parliament who also held dual citizenships were forced to resign.
I will be requesting PNG Opposition Shadow Minister Dr Allan Marat to formally write to the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister to confirm or deny O'Neill's Australian citizenship status.
I will also writing to the Australian press asking them to raise the question to the Australian Prime Minister.
If O'Neill is not an Australian Citizen then I expect them to provide an immediate response to confirm he isn't. However if he is, then Australian privacy laws will apply to him so they will be reluctant to disclose any details of his citizenship.
Of course O'Neill can issue a public response denying he is an Australian citizen, however I expect him to remain silent, as the saying goes when you are guilty of an offence, anything you say or do may be used against you.
O'Neill can expect court proceedings to follow seeking declarations he is not qualified to be or remain a Member of Parliament.
And no this is not fake news and no my account has not been hacked - stay tuned as this story develops over the next few days and weeks.
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