The news is here from a few minutes ago: Australia High Court decision - deputy PM ineligible for parliament
This now via Bloomberg ... what the world will be reading 9bolding mine ... 'crisis' may be too strong a description)
- Australia's government was thrown into crisis on Friday after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was declared ineligible to sit in parliament because he was also a citizen of New Zealand when elected.
- The High Court ruling wipes out Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's one-seat majority in the lower-house and will force Joyce, who has since renounced his New Zealand citizenship, to re-contest the seat in a special election that could take about a month to hold.
- Opinion polls show Joyce is unlikely to lose and at least three independent lawmakers have said they'll back Turnbull if the opposition seeks a vote of no confidence.
- Still the government now faces weeks of uncertainty that could further delay efforts to pass company tax cuts. The Australian dollar extended losses after the ruling.
