OK. Let's ALL take a deep breath. This story begins at approximately 2:13pm AEST on Friday afternoon when Greens senator Scott Ludlam tweeted that he'd be resigning from parliament because he unknowingly held dual citizenship.
hey everyone. i'm sorry about this, but it's a thing. i'll really miss it, but there are other ways to make trouble… https://t.co/8tSsOZ4Xd5
It's absolutely bananas. TL;DR: You can't be a dual citizen and be an Australian MP, unless you renounce it. Weird rule, but them's the breaks.
Not only was a senator sitting in the parliament ineligibly for a decade, but the bloke who looks to be ready to take Ludlam's vacant Senate spot is 22-year-old disability advocate Jordan Steele-John. Here he is flipping the bird:
Here's Jordon Steele-John, next in line for Ludlam's Senate vacancy. Says he's happy to let Greens' members decide.… https://t.co/vgEWgfnZZG
Less than 20 minutes after this all blew up, independent senator Derryn Hinch tweeted about the long-held conspiracy theory about the citizenship status of former prime minister Tony Abbott.
The Ludlam dual citizenship resignation should re-ignite the Tony Abbott dual citizenship debate. When did he renounce Britain?
Abbott's British birth has been the focus of some of the most unhinged online detective work in some corners of the Australian internet for many years.
Well, ladies and gentleman, at 4:40pm AEST the former prime minister replied with a tweet that appears to show an official document verifying that he renounced his British citizenship.
@HumanHeadline this matter was dealt with decades ago. Here's the proof:
It immediately sent shockwaves through Australian political nerds.
Woah https://t.co/flBixZstrn
Some people online had spent YEARS working on this story.
WHY DID THIS TAKE YOU SO LONG https://t.co/BZmvVdOptF
There are lot of people on Reddit and other weird places on the internet who'll have much more time on their hands.
What are the most cooked people on Australian twitter going to argue about now
ALTHOUGH.
Send this down to the lab for Detective Timestamp and the team https://t.co/xUchuZ9ENx
It's just been a crazy day. Now you can add that the former prime minister buried one of the most ridiculous conspiracy theories in Australian politics.
FYI rumour mongers: I renounced my UK citizenship in 1993 and here's the proof:
Or did he? Is the document real? Lol.