Council should have the right to object
It is outrageous that Labor MP, Sharon Knight, felt it was appropriate to write a letter to the Mayor of Ballarat ordering her, and her Council, to fall in line and support a number of significantly flawed Labor Government projects.
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Since Labor was elected I have heard from countless Ballarat residents who are fed up with the way Daniel Andrews and his local Labor MPs are simply not listening to the community. From the proposed redevelopment of the Ballarat Railway Station Precinct and Mair St, to the Civic Hall site and the under-funding of the Ballarat Hospital, the genuine concerns of local Ballarat residents are being ignored by this Government. Ballarat Councillors have taken an oath to act in the best interests of the community, and advocacy from Council on the aforementioned issues is evidence that Cr McIntosh and her colleagues are taking this oath seriously. On the other hand we have Ms Knight throwing a tantrum because Council is asking questions about her Government's flawed projects.
I congratulate Cr McIntosh and her colleagues for their strong advocacy on the behalf of the people of Ballarat, and I encourage them to continue in the face of this extraordinary behaviour from Ms Knight.
JOSHUA MORRIS, Member for Western Victoria
What are their reasons?
Subsection 44(i) of the Constitution is very clear about a person's eligibility to be elected: "Any person who- (i.) Is under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights and privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign power... shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives".
Senators Waters and Ludlum did the right thing. What possible legal advice can Joyce, Canavan, Nash and Xenophon et al have from the Solicitor-General to mitigate this section of the Constitution?
Mark Slater
