Australia seeks to strip convicted terrorists of their citizenship as prime minister insists ‘they can go’
- Government wants the law broadened so that anyone convicted of a terrorist offence, even native-born Australians, could be expelled if they could ‘reasonably’ be expected to gain citizenship in another country
Australia unveiled a radical plan on Thursday to strip convicted terrorists of their citizenship even if they are native-born Australians.
Acting after a series of jihadist-inspired plots and attacks in the country, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his government needed expanded powers to withdraw citizenship from anyone found guilty of terrorist activity.
“People who commit acts of terrorism have rejected absolutely everything that this country stands for,” Morrison told a hastily organised press conference. “This is something that can’t be tolerated, and for those who would engage in this sort of activity, and they have citizenship elsewhere, or we have reason to believe they do, they can go.”
Australia’s current Citizenship Act allows authorities to revoke citizenship from people jailed for six years or more for terrorist activities, but only if they are already dual nationals.
Morrison called these limits “unrealistic” and said the law should be broadened so that anyone convicted of a terrorist offence, even native-born Australians, could be expelled if they could “reasonably” be expected to gain citizenship in another country through their parents or grandparents.