Debts accrued by Joyce and five other parliamentarians included salaries and staff expensesBarnaby Joyce and others disqualified for dual citizenship have debts waivedBarnaby Joyce and five former parliamentarians disqualified by section 44 of the constitution have had their debts waived by the finance minister. The six parliamentarians were ruled ineligible from the 2 July 2016 federal election onwards. Cormann accepted the recommendation and waived the debts, consistent with a process outlined in the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2014. Reynolds said that candidates must “only owe allegiance to Australia” but “having dual citizenship in this multicultural society is not the same thing as owing allegiance to another country”. “Ironically, while section 44 was created to protect Australian sovereignty, it has become the case that whether or not an Australian has dual citizenship and is able to easily renounce that citizenship can be entirely up to another nation,” she said.

Source: The Guardian March 29, 2018 05:15 UTC