Britons in Australia may lose right to vote
Britons in Australia may lose right to vote
Britons living in Australia could be stripped of their right to vote. An Australian politician has called for a reform of the country's electoral system, which could see Britons who arrived in Australia before 1984 lose their vote.
163,000 British passport holders with permanent
houses in Australia could be affected, reports The Daily Telegraph. Daryl Melham, a member of Australia's Labor Party, has said that those Britons who have never taken out Australian citizenship should forfeit their right to vote.
Britons who arrived in Australia before 1984 are entitled to vote in federal elections. However, Melham believes that these people should have until 2014 to become Australian citizens, or no longer be given a vote.
"It's my views that the time has come that if you want to be a voter in this country you should take out citizenship," he said. "I think it's inexcusable. If an Australian citizen goes overseas and doesn't come back within six years, they lose the right to vote and yet we're allowing British subjects to still get a say in Australian elections."
Melham hopes that his proposal will be debated in parliament later this year. He feels that the current system discriminates against other nationalities living in Australia.
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