The year was 1981. Unguarded Moment by The Church was at the top of the charts. A different unguarded moment in the church saw Pope John Paul II rushed to hospital, following an assassination attempt. That same year, Anthony John Abbott began at Oxford university on a Rhodes Scholarship, perhaps already dreaming of the prime ministership.

Now it’s 2014. Nicki Minaj’s Anaconda is at the top of the charts. The headlines are dominated by fonts. And reports have emerged that a Sunshine Coast blogger, Tony Magrathea, is attempting to bring down Tony Abbott by proving that he was a dual citizen, and thus ineligible to be elected to parliament under section 44(i) of the Australian Constitution.



The meat in the Abbott “birther” conspiracy pie is this: Abbott became an Australian citizen in 1981, but nowhere has it been reported as to whether he relinquished his British citizenship prior to 1994, when he was elected in the Warringah by-election (except where it has).

Both Abbott’s office and the British Home Office have refused freedom of information requests for documents detailing whether Abbott really renounced his British citizenship, on the basis that it is a personal document in the case of the former, and that they are not legally permitted to in the latter. The prime minister’s office has dismissed Magrathea’s claims outright.

Nonetheless, he still wants to see the documents. “[Abbott] has to tell the people when he renounced his British citizenship”, Magrathea wrote on the blog Independent Australia. Until he does, the theory goes, we can’t be sure that he relinquished it.

Even if Abbott were somehow forced to stand down, he could easily renounce his citizenship and stand again in a by-election, likely winning re-election with an increased margin. But in the minds of those pushing the dual citizen barrow the consequences for Abbott if they can prove their case are far more dire: he would be stripped of his pension, forced to repay salaries earned and allowances received, and imprisoned.



Finally, as he was an illegitimate prime minister, decisions he made while in the position would be reversed, wouldn’t they? The left would stand triumphant, the war won on a technicality, without a single shot fired in anger.



The Abbott birther story is no longer only being championed by fringe blogs, but by people previously associated with more mainstream groups like March Australia, and has been reported in mainstream media outlets. This “foreign-born politicians” meme recurs every now and again – even the rightwing Australian Protectionist party took a crack back in 2011.

Always keen for a cheeky conspiracy chuckle, I thought I’d fill the citizenship-evidence vacuum with some evidence of my own. I threw together a hastily mocked-up Photoshop job, pasting Tony Abbott’s head and signature onto a picture of a British passport from Google image search, then shared it on Twitter.

Cam Smith (@sexenheimer) Definitive proof that Tony Abbott is a British citizen and thus ineligible to be Prime Minister. #auspol pic.twitter.com/WkE3J20X7U

Within a couple of hours I was overwhelmed by the number of people who seized on my obvious fake as damning evidence. At best, I’d expected a few laughs. I proffered increasingly preposterous proofs, which produced similar results.



Cam Smith (@sexenheimer) More proof emerges of Tony Abbott's British citizenship. This fraud must stand down NOW. #auspol pic.twitter.com/ealhH8rrYS

Cam Smith (@sexenheimer) This passage from Tony Abbott's Battlelines has taken on a sinister new meaning. #auspol pic.twitter.com/YfWEON0idc

Why are people so willing to believe this stuff? Like the Obama birth certificate crowd, the idea that a hated politician can be brought undone without going through all the rigmarole of building a true political alternative is attractive. The proposition of Abbott facing karmic justice for the harsh nature of his government’s policies only adds to that attraction.



What is largely forgotten in the excitement is that this sort of thing can easily go both ways. If Abbott could be bundled off to the slammer for defrauding the Commonwealth in this way, why not honorary Israeli citizen Bob Hawke, or any other of the many MPs who have knowingly or unknowingly entered parliament as dual citizens over the decades.



Jello Biafra once gave some excellent advice: it’s possible to mix arthritis cream with hallucinogens and spread the resulting mixture on the doorhandles of police cars in order to dose the occupants.

He also gave some more relevant advice in 2012, at the Melbourne Festival. Appearing on a panel with The Church singer Steve Kilbey, Biafra said that rather than getting distracted by conspiracy theories about things that you couldn’t possibly hope to change, even if they were true, your time is better served by working towards more practical political goals.

A more practical campaign for Abbott Birthers might be to campaign for the removal of the archaic section 44(i) from the Constitution at a referendum. Doing so would re-enfranchise hundreds of thousands of dual citizens who cannot run for parliament without giving up their non-Australian citizenship – something they may not be able to reclaim if they lose.

Meanwhile, I’ll be out there in cyberspace, ever vigilant for the one document that can bring this government to its knees.

Cam Smith (@sexenheimer) More proof that Tony Abbott is a duel citizen! #auspol pic.twitter.com/746QUI9vFN

This article originally said March Australia was championing the “birther” argument. March Australia’s organisers have requested the following statement be posted: