Frydenberg citizenship saga returns
THE author of a book titled The Holocaust Denier is seeking to have Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the son of a Holocaust survivor, thrown out of Parliament claiming he is a dual citizen.
THE author of a book titled The Holocaust Denier is seeking to have Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the son of a Holocaust survivor, thrown out of Parliament claiming he is a dual citizen.
Trevor Poulton, a Melbourne lawyer and member of the Australian Labor Party, is seeking signatories to a High Court petition alleging that Frydenberg is a Hungarian citizen by descent and therefore ineligible to sit in Parliament.
Frydenberg’s mother, Erica Strausz, was born in Hungary in 1943. Upon arriving in Australia as a child, her nationality was listed as “stateless”.
Poulton told Network Ten, “He [Frydenberg] is a Hungarian citizen and that is based on the fact that his mother was a Hungarian citizen.”
He added that Frydenberg has been treated as a special case.
Poulton insists his 2012 novel was a work of fiction and doesn’t reflect his views, however federal Labor MP Josh Burns has called for Poulton to be expelled from the party.
“There is no place in the ALP for Holocaust deniers,” Burns tweeted.
“I’ll be seeking the expulsion of Trevor Poulton under the Victorian Branch rules on the basis that he has breached the national platform which strongly supports human rights and pledges to combat intolerance and discrimination.”
Under the law, only a candidate for Kooyong, or a voter in the electorate, is able to lodge a High Court petition. Poulton has 13 days left to find a signatory before the July 31 deadline. He cannot sign the petition himself as he does not live in the electorate.
Frydenberg said the issues of citizenship were “dealt with comprehensively through the last parliament”.
AJN STAFF
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