A Monty Python Christmas

By Susan James

I decided to get my passport the other day in case I could ever afford to travel.

I merrily got on the web and started filling out the application form. I got to page two and was asked for the state that issued my birth certificate. Hello, there's no option for Papua here. OK, I'll phone the passport office and ask them what I do now.

“Hi, I'm filling out my passport application and don't have an option to put Papua in the state of registration for a birth certificate”.

“No ma'am, you will need your Australian Citizenship certificate”.

“But I am an Australian citizen, I was born in Papua when it was a territory of Australia”.

“No, you're not an Australian citizen ma'am, you will need an Australian Citizenship certificate”.

“But my parents went up there for the Australian government and Papua was an Australian territory”.

“You will need to apply for Australian citizenship if you have not already done so ma'am”.

Another call (just in case).

“Hi, I was born in Papua when it was a territory of Australia and am applying for an Australian passport, what do I need to do”?

“Are you an Australian citizen?”

“Yes, Papua was a territory of Australia when I was born”.

“I am sorry ma'am, but you will need to phone the Department of Immigration and Foreign Affairs and get an application for Australian citizenship”.

“*^%$*”.

“Good Morning, Department of Immigration and Foreign Affairs”.

“Hi, I was born in Papua when it was a territory of Australia, could you send me a proof of Australian citizenship please”?

“I'm sorry ma'am, you will need to apply for citizenship”

“But Papua was a territory ……. “

“I'm sorry ma'am, but all Papuan nationals lost citizenship when Papua got independence on 16th September 1975.”

“What, so I was an Australian citizen until 1975?”

“No ma'am, you've never been an Australian citizen.”

“But you just said …”

“No ma'am, had you been an Australian citizen before independence you would have lost that citizenship in 1975 unless you had been naturalised.”

“But I was an Australian, my parents are Australian, my dad was working for the Australian government.”

“I'm sorry ma'am, you will have to apply for Australian citizenship.”

“*^%$*”.

I have to apply for Australian citizenship - Other Situations, because I can't even apply for citizenship by descent: Someone born in another country to Australian parents can short track by applying as a citizen by descent. However (and this is good), because Papua was a territory of Australia at the time of my birth I was not born in another country!!

However I was not born in Australia under the Australian citizenship rules because all Australian citizenships were revoked when they got independence.

Those born in Papua before 1975 are the only group of children of Australian citizens denied the right of citizenship by descent.

Ms Susan Walsh took this to Federal Court. She lost, but her action forced the powers that be to add a new section to the Australian Citizenship Act (2007) for people in this group.

No one seems to have been informed of this loss of citizenship. I would certainly have expected my father, as a government employee in Papua and New Guinea since 1946, to be told of the ramifications of Papuan independence by his employer, but no.

I am also not a Papuan citizen as I have no descendents born there. I cannot apply for dual citizenship as the Papuan Constitutional Committee stated that anecdotally “no man it is said can stand in more than one canoe.”

Apparently I can't even stand in one.

Within one day I have gone from an Australian citizen to a stateless person and am caught in a classic government bureaucracy Catch 22.

A merry Christmas from your Government as I start searching for paperwork.

Five Club Champions

The Ravenshoe/Mt Garnet Rifle Club in 2011 introduced perpetual shields and yearly gold medals for our club champions ...>>Read More

Time To Party After A Year Of Hard Work

By Goanna
The news and papers are full of all the big money that the Mine Workers, Trade Workers, Factory Workers, Administration worker and retail worker are supposed to be taking home every week.

The rest of the population are just getting by. There seems to be more people wanting help to survive in the day to day struggle.

The ladies of the Aerial Outpost QCWA have made donations to many causes through 2011, helping many after the cyclone and big wet season. The last big effort was to donate one thousand dollars to Angel Flight.

The volunteers in all clubs and organizations can be proud of the work that they do during the year to help those who are less fortunate.

Bringing Back The Grey Nomads

Over the past year, a large number of Ravenshoe businesses have missed seeing the Grey Nomads using the local railway land as a rest area ...>>Read More

Sports Camp Worth Its Weight In Gold

Kim Donaldson has managed to pull off a very successful event called 'Charters Towers ICPA Sports Camp'. One hundred children from the age of two to 14 years participated in the latest ...>>Read More

Talk Of The Town

The Top Table Toastmasters (TTT) held their official Chartering Meeting recently.
The chartering of the new Club was an 18 month project ...>>Read More

Perfect Day For A Ride

The Ravenshoe Pony club held their Golden Quill Dressage Competition on the 10th December 2011 in conjunction with their Copper Cup Jump competition and end of the year Presentation ...>>Read More

Festive Arrangements for Council

Tablelands Regional Council service centres and libraries will be closed from 4pm on 23 December 2011 to 8.30am on Tuesday 3 January 2012.

During this time, residents can call 1300 362 242 seven days a week, 24 hours a day, for urgent Council services.

Waste transfer stations will be open every day except Christmas Day.

Council's Visitor Information Centres will be closed on Christmas Day, with the exception of Ravenshoe. Atherton, Herberton, Malanda, Mareeba, Mt Garnet and Yungaburra will also be closed on Boxing Day.

On New Year's day, Atherton, Malanda, Mareeba, Mt Garnet and Yungaburra VICs will also be closed.

Public swimming pools around the region will close on Christmas Day, with some also closing on additional days during the festive season. The closing days are as follows:

· Atherton Pool will be closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day.

· Dimbulah Pool will be closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, December 27, and 1-2 January.

· Kuranda Aquatic Centre will be closed Christmas Day but will be open on Boxing Day between 12pm - 6pm. On all designated public holidays, the centre will be open from 12 noon - 6pm.

· Mareeba Pool will be closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year's Day and January 2. (??

The first Tablelands Regional Council meeting for 2012 will be held on 18 January in the Atherton boardroom.

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