Petition EN2797 – remove Alex Hawke from parliament.
This is a petition that has been put forward to the Australian government to request that the Member of Parliament, Alex Hawke, be removed from office due to being a Greek Citizen.
Currently, the rules to be a Member of Federal parliament include that you must NOT hold the citizenship of another country.
This petition request is based on Alex Hawke being a Greek Citizen. However, the Greek law appears to say he is NOT a Greek Citizen.
Petition Reason
Alex Hawke is in parliament illegally. Mr Hawke’s mother was Greek and through Greek citizenship laws passes that citizenship to Mr Hawke automatically.
Petition Request
We therefore ask the House to refer Mr Hawke to the High Court using S47 of the constitution to ascertain his eligibility to be in parliament. The High Court has in the past directed parliament to use S47 to refer MPs for S44 eligibility checks.
Issued to be considered:
Mr Hawke was born in Wollongong, and has stated that he has lived his whole life in Australia and has only ever solely held Australian citizenship. He has never applied for Greek Citizenship.
The Greek Embassy website states that they can assist a person who is born to a Greek citizen parent, to exercise the right to citizenship, and that a Greek citizen is a person who is duly registered in the Records of a Municipality of the Hellenic Republic.
Alex Hawke is apparently not registered in the Records of a Municipality of the Hellenic Republic, and has therefore NOT acquired Greek citizenship, even though he has the right to it if he wanted to apply.
In accordance with Greek Law, Greek citizenship is an inherent right of persons born to a parent who is a Greek citizen and as such, Greek Consular authorities do not “grant Greek citizenship”. Instead, through the provisions of Greek Law, and its stipulated procedures, they assist you to exercise the right to citizenship. An individual’s registration in the records of a Greek Municipality constitutes the recognition of his/her right to citizenship by the Greek State, and, therefore, the entitlement to a Greek Passport.
In 2017, when this first arose, Mr Hawke dismissed a suggestion that he is a dual citizen, saying he was born in Wollongong in 1977, and has never held Greek citizenship through his mother, who moved to Australia in the 1950s.
“I am an Australian citizen only and have never held or acquired or sought Greek or any other citizenship.”
The Petition is at: www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN2797
As at 23 June 2021 this petition has had 1 signature and expires on 21 July 2021.