Born under unlucky stars
If being born here doesn't make you an Australian citizen, what does? Good question. Apparently there are rules for refugees' children and then rules for the rest of us. The
Parliamentary Library has done a
Research Paper on the topic "
We are Australian – The Constitution and Deportation of Australian-born Children". According to
Australian Policy Online (
http://www.apo.org.au/), which has posted the document, "
The Citizenship Act was amended in 1986 to remove automatic citizenship at birth from children of 'illegal' immigrants and temporary visa holders, including visitors and refugees. Now such children only become citizens if they are 'ordinarily resident' in Australia for the first ten years of their lives." With this government's track record, chances are they wouldn't be allowed to stay that long. The full text of this Research Paper is at
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rp/2003-04/04rp03.htm.
Posted by belinda at November 20, 2003 12:08 PM