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Barnaby Joyce is a Kiwi, New Zealand Government confirms

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce says he will ask the high court to rule on his citizenship
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is a citizen of New Zealand, the country's Government has confirmed.

Mr Joyce this morning revealed the New Zealand High Commission contacted him last Thursday to say he might be a New Zealand citizen by descent, because his father was born there.

The office of NZ Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne has told ABC News that under New Zealand law, a child born to a New Zealand citizen is automatically given Kiwi citizenship.

It does not have to be activated or registered.

Barnaby Joyce says he was "shocked" by the citizenship news.
It is still up to the High Court to interpret what that means under our own constitution, and whether Mr Joyce is disqualified from office.

Mr Joyce said he was "shocked" to hear the news.

"I have always been an Australian citizen," he said earlier today.

The National Party leader was born in Tamworth in New South Wales in 1967.

He said his father was born in New Zealand but moved to Australia in 1947 "as a British subject — in fact we were all British subjects at that time".

"Neither my parents nor I have ever applied to register me as a New Zealand citizen, the New Zealand Government has no register recognising me as an New Zealand citizen," Mr Joyce told Parliament.

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Kill Switch

Salim Mehajer's Sydney mansion looking for its next king

Do you want to live in Salim Mehajer's Sydney mansion?

Salim Mehajer's Sydney mansion, with its six bedrooms, five bathrooms, jacuzzi, solarium and 10-car garage, is packed with eyewatering opulence fit for a king — or at least a former deputy mayor.

The 31-year-old, who first rose to prominence when his elaborate 2015 wedding to Aysha Learmonth shut down Frances Street, is renting out his palatial Lidcombe residence.

The former Auburn deputy mayor's glittering home includes a heated pool and its own lift to help you navigate the four levels and a sunny rooftop with city views.

But perhaps the most striking feature is the curved marble staircase in the entrance, which frames a crystal chandelier.

Salim Mehajer's Sydney property is available for rent.
The property was last sold in 2007 for $565,000, but would be worth significantly more than that now.

Mehajer is fighting fires on several fronts.

He is facing 128 charges over the 2012 Auburn Council elections he is accused of rigging.

In a separate incident, Mehajer has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a taxi driver and stealing an EFTPOS machine in March.

Two killed in Queensland Raceway crash at Willowbank

Chris Clarke, Jack McKay and Jorgia White, The Courier-Mail
August 20, 2017 1:27pm

TWO men killed in a racing accident on Saturday night have been remembered for their love of motorsport.

Kurt Bull and his co-driver died when their vehicle slammed into a wall at Queensland Raceway at Ipswich.

The pair shared a love for a yellow Monaro, which has been featured in a number of online tributes today.

Mr Bull, who was also an avid surfer, was remembered by family and friends as someone who lived life to the full.

On Friday — the day before he died — Mr Bull wrote a Facebook status urging everyone to “stay safe” ahead of the Roll Racing event at Ipswich.

“If anyone needs anything or a place to stay we have plenty of room here! Stay safe everyone!” he wrote.

A GoFundMe page has been set up in honour of the young father and has already raised more than $26,000 for the family.


EARLIER: Two men have died after a car reportedly came off a track and crashed into a wall at the Queensland Raceway in Ipswich.

Police said initial information indicated a car left the racetrack at Willowbank and crashed into a wall at about 8.40pm on Saturday.

Paramedics performed CPR on the 32-year-old driver and 41-year-old passenger, but they were later pronounced deceased on the scene.

No one else was injured.

The Forensic Crash Unit is assisting other authorities with the investigation.

A fling with Marilyn Monroe, two marriages, seven kids and a 'love child' - but one of Jerry Lewis' greatest loves was his former comedy partner Dean Martin
Comic legend Jerry Lewis died of natural causes aged 91 on Sunday in Las Vegas
The funnyman had a total of seven children and a rumored love child
Lewis was married twice, divorcing from Patti Palmer in 1983 and marrying SanDee Pitnick the same year
The Oscar-winner had numerous affairs during his first marriage, boasting that he had a fling with Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe
But one of Lewis' greatest loves was his former comedy partner, Dean Martin, who wrote Dean & Me (A Love Story) to honor their time together


Comic legend Jerry Lewis had a roving eye for the ladies, two marriages, seven kids and a rumored love child, but one of his greatest loves was he comedy partner Dean Martin.

The 91-year-old died at his Las Vegas home on Sunday after spending the majority of his life making crowds roar with laughter with his sometimes controversial material.

The funnyman lived a full life, complete with seven children but also had a rumored love child with a young model when he was rising into stardom.

Lewis was married twice, making headlines for quickly tying the knot with his second wife less than a month after his divorce was finalized with his first bride.

Still, holy matrimony didn't keep the comedian from playing the field, as he boasted about his fling with Marilyn Monroe, saying that after sleeping with the siren he was 'crippled for a month'.

However, one of Lewis' greatest loves was his former comedy partner Dean Martin, writing Dean & Me (A Love Story) to honor their time together.

In an interview with the Sunday Express in September 2016 Lewis spoke about how he was still performing and admitted: 'I miss Dean.'

'I fell in love with him the day we met. I wish he were here. He was a miracle that God put in my life and working with him was a feeling I'll never ever forget.'

Martin died in 1995 and Lewis said: 'There isn't a day I don't think about him.

'You can't write love off or put it on hold. It stays with you until death.'


Lewis had numerous affairs during his marriage to Patti, leading to their divorce in 1983. It was during his first marriage that he is rumored to have a love child with a model. Lewis married SanDee Pitnick in February of 1983.

Lewis met his first wife Patti Palmer when she was a singer with Ted Fio Rito, wedding in October of 1944. They had only met two months before they tied the knot in Detroit.

Two years after the wedding they welcomed their first son, Gary Lewis in 1946.

The couple went on to have five more boys, Ronald Steven 'Ronnie' Lewis in 1949, Scott Anthony Lewis in 1956, Christopher Lewis, in 1957, Anthony Lewis in 1959 and Joseph Lewis in 1964. Ronnie was adopted.

Although the marriage lasted a total of 36 years, Lewis often had trysts with various women.

He once mentioned the era was marred with infidelity, commenting: 'This is when I'm f**king everybody in Hollywood.'

It was during this time Lewis was rumored to have a three-year long affair with model Lynn Dixon, who gave birth to Suzan Minoret in 1952, reported Philadelphia Weekly.

Minoret lived a life of high-society, residing in a wealthy part of Manhattan and had her marriage featured on the society pages of The New York Times.

She stepped forward earlier this year to reveal she was living on the streets of Philadelphia and was still waiting for Lewis to acknowledge her as his daughter.

Lewis never confirmed or denied that Minoret was his biological daughter.

It was also during his first marriage that Lewis had an affair with Monroe.

Eventually, Patti requested a legal separation in 1980 and $450,000 a year to support herself and her youngest song.

She wrote Lewis 'displayed an open disregard for our marriage' and was a 'financial puppet' at the mercy of his office, with no money of her own, reported People.

Lewis had reportedly announced the separation to his children by bringing a copy of a National Enquirer which headlined 'Jerry and Patti Lewis split!' to the dinner table, reported Mental Floss.

Their divorce was finalized in January 1983 and Lewis married SanDee Pitnick in February 1983.

The Las Vegas dancer was said to be the final straw for Patti, after the couple met when SanDee auditioned for a role on Lewis' film Hardly Working.

Lewis and SanDee adopted Danielle Sara Lewis in 2004 and were married for 33 years until Lewis died.


In 2009, Lewis' youngest son Joseph Lewis committed suicide after becoming a drug addict. He was 45 years old.

Lewis' oldest son Gary Lewis, known for his band Gary Lewis & the Playboys, spoke out and blamed their father over the death.

He slammed the Oscar-winner, reported Contact Music, saying: 'Jerry Lewis is a mean and evil person. He was never loving and caring toward me or my brothers.

'I don't know if Joe's death is drug related, but I believe it could have been prevented if he and my father had been on better terms. I believe he partly died of a broken heart.

'[My father] doesn't really care. He's more worried about his career and his image than his own family.'

Lewis spoke out about his son's death to Hollywood Reporter in 2014 and said: 'To this day I don't understand it because it's unfair -- not unfair to me, but unfair to him.

'That he went that way made the unfairness stupidity. But he was my son and he's gone, and there's not a lot I can do about that. I beat myself a thousand times.

'What he did with his time away from you is what the end result showed. But I'll tell you this: You don't get over that.'



As comedians Lewis and Martin gained famed in their double act, relying on their interaction instead of playing out planned skits.

They began with a nightclub routine, then a radio show, before moving to TV with shows like Toast of the Town, later renamed The Ed Sullivan Show.

The pair took their comedy double act into the movies, starting with My Friend Irma in 1949, and starred in 14 movies together.

But the pair, once inseparable, fell into a bitter feud that lasted for decades and on only a few occasions did they see each other before Martin died of emphysema in 1995.

Lewis penned a book over their relationship entitled Dean & Me (A Love Story) and published it in 2005.

In an interview about the book Lewis said: 'The night that Frank [Sinatra] brought Dean on the telethon [Lewis' annual Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in 1976], we were so thrilled to see one another. You can see it in his eyes, you can see it in mine.

'When Dean's son was killed, I knew that Dean was dead. I made myself accessible. I went to the funeral without his knowledge.

'Dean heard that I was there. He called me and we talked for a couple of hours. He sobbed for the first time I'd ever heard. He said 'Don't you understand? I just lost one of the only two male loves I had in my life. Him and you.'

'That was the first time he had said that or ever related to loving me. He showed it enough, it was just difficult for him to say.'

Lewis died from natural causes at the age of 91 on Sunday.

Over his long career in showbiz, Lewis starred in several hit movies including Martin Scorsese's The King of Comedy and The Nutty Professor.

But arguably his most famous achievement is founding the annual Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy telethon in the 1960s, which raised more than $2.45billion over the decades, led by Lewis until he was relieved as host in 2011.