The member for Wannon points out that being an Australian — a holder of Australian citizenship — is a tremendous privilege. 

And of course he is absolutely right.

While many of them might take it for granted because they don’t look beyond their own backyard, Aussies enjoy many of the things that millions of people around the world will never have — tolerance, freedom of speech, democracy, pluralism and peace.

These are all things that we should cherish. 

They’re not that easy to come by.

That’s why it is so galling to witness the radicalisation of young Australians by terrorist organisations who seek to destroy these values. 

And that’s why those who choose to live in Australia while at the same time scorning everything the country stands for should be forced to make a choice — us or them.

The MP argues that it is time we started looking at ways to revoke the citizenship of those who wish to harm us and who have abused the rights and privileges citizenship brings.

Who could argue with him?

As he points out, this is not a particularly draconian measure. 

It is a commonsense approach to protecting law-abiding citizens from the evil of terror. 

It happens in the UK, Canada has signed off on new laws and it’s time it happened here too.

The British laws mean UK citizens who join terrorist organisations can now lose their citizenship if they have acted in a way that is “seriously prejudicial to the vital interests” of the state, if removing their citizenship would be “conducive to the public good”, and if the government has “reasonable grounds” for believing they are able to become a citizen of another country. 

Sound sensible? 

We think so.

What are we waiting for?