Barnaby Joyce farce another reason why we need to rip up our failed constitution
Twenty-five years ago I received the same news Barnaby Joyce heard on Friday
In an astounding High Court decision I’d been ruled ineligible to sit in the Parliament and told I was no longer the independent member for the prized seat of Wills, Bob Hawke’s old seat, which I’d won eight months earlier in an exhilarating byelection.
The euphoria of our victory party in Coburg that night was put into stark relief by the High Court decision.
By day’s end I was told to vacate my office within 24 hours, that my superannuation entitlements for the eight months I’d served would be confiscated, and that my electorate staff would lose their jobs.
Thankfully the government reneged on that final ruling, leaving the people of Wills with a modicum of democracy.
My situation was…