Barnaby-the-bloody-carp Joyce caught out in citizenship drama

Ancestry is all the rage.

And we all have bare-knuckle boxing champs in our past.

My 30-year-old daughter e-mailed me this morning to ask about our family. She said she had a DNA test.

I took the don’t-ask-a-question-unless-you-want-an-answer route – and told her it’s all on ancestry.com, go look it up, but you may have to like your step-sister.

I’ve got three passports: Canadian, American, Australian.

It’s homogenized white, but at least I can remember them.

Sorenne is about to get her third, once we find her Canadian thingy under my name.

Australian politicians are apparently brain-dead.

Barnaby Joyce (right, not exactly as shown), the Donald Trump of Australia, deputy Prime Minister and Agricrlture Minister, didn’t know he was born a kiwi (like Russell Crowe)

Section 44 of the Australian Constitution says

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 or privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign power: or

(ii.) Is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer: or

(iii.) Is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent: or

(iv.) Holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth: or

(v.) Has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons:

shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

Australian politics is as awfull as the country’s ability to hook up decent Internet.

Australian citizenship

It’s a trifecta of citizenships for me and Sorenne – Canadian, American and now Australian — and a deux-fecta for Amy as we attended our citizenship ceremony on Saturday morning.

citizenship-sep-16We didn’t even know it was Australian Citizenship Day (a U.S. thing too, which is ironical because the three of us are also Americans), but there were 492 of us in a community centre — with another 500 of supporting friends and family, although we decided to keep ours a personal affair — who were welcomed to the Australian family.

Special thanks to Amy and Sorenne, and many others, who have stuck with me while I adjust to the next phase of our life.

We’ll be celebrating tomorrow, in sub-tropical Brisbane, by spending the day at the arena, playing and coaching ice hockey.

And many thanks for all the kind messages we received in response to our citizenships.

We are quite fortunate, and grateful.

dp

(before and after pics; are we different? that’s a softball question lobbed up there for your amusement)

family-citizen