Barnaby Joyce Literally Said "Ignorance Is Not An Excuse" To Dual Citizens Who Resigned

In a July radio interview, deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said it was "black and white" that dual citizens couldn't sit in parliament, adding that "ignorance is not an excuse".

Just 28 days after the interview, the New Zealand government confirmed the deputy prime minister was a Kiwi dual citizen, through descent from his father.

Joyce is not resigning or standing down from cabinet, as have other MPs who've run afoul of Section 44 of the constitution, with the government suggesting it is confident it'll win a High Court case because of Joyce's apparent ignorance about his Kiwi citizenship.

But during an interview with ABC Radio National's Patricia Karvelas on Tuesday July 18 Joyce said this, in the wake of Greens senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam resigning:

JOYCE: I don't think for either Scott Ludlam or Larissa Waters there was anything malicious about it. I think merely an oversight, but unfortunately that's the law. It's like if you're driving on the road without a licence and you get pulled over. Well, you're in a spot of bother. They were members of parliament. It's quite clear under Section 44, you can't be a member of parliament and have dual citizenship. It's black and white. The outcome is black and white. That's just, that's just the way it is.

KARVELAS: Does the law set the bar too high? Is it time to have a look at Section 44 of the Constitution?