2017] Citizenship Stripping Laws in the UK, Canada and Australia 31 2 Justifications In the time since the September 11 bombings, Australia has passed a larger number of national security statutes than any other democratic nation, some 66 to date at the federal level alone.162 This has led to Australia’s response to terrorism being characterised as one of ‘hyper-legislation’.163 The denationalisation provisions introduced via the Allegiance to Australia Act were justified as a necessary addition to these laws on the grounds that they would symbolically affirm important features of the state–citizen relationship. In particular, it was emphasised that citizenship involves duties of allegiance, and that violation of these duties warrants exclusion from the citizenry. For instance, a purpose provision included in the Allegiance to Australia Act states: This Act is enacted because the Parliament recognises that Australian citizenship is a common bond, involving reciprocal rights and obligations, and that citizens may, through certain conduct incompatible with the shared values of the Australian community, demonstrate that they have severed that bond and repudiated their allegiance to Australia.164 Similarly, in an interview, Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton said that [Australian citizenship] confers a great advantage on people and if people are going to swear an allegiance to our country and then go beyond that to — and in opposition to the words that they’ve just spoken at their citizenship ceremony … attempt to attack Australians, there’s a consequence to pay for that.165 In addition to this symbolic justification, the Allegiance to Australia Act was portrayed as an important security measure. The Act was introduced in the wake of increased numbers of Australian foreign fighters partaking in overseas conflicts, and was presented as a direct response to the threats that stem from this. When first announcing government plans to expand revocation laws, then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott noted that ‘at least 110 Australians [had] travelled overseas to join the death cult in Iraq and Syria’, that within Australia 162 By mid-2013, Parliament had enacted 61 pieces of anti-terrorism legislation: George Williams, ‘The Legal Legacy of the “War on Terror”’ (2013) 12 Macquarie Law Journal 3, 7. A further 5 anti-terrorism statutes have been enacted since then. 163 Roach (n 68) 310. 164 Allegiance to Australia Act (n 157) s 4. 165 Interview with Peter Dutton, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (Leigh Sales, 23 June 2015) <www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4260728.htm>, archived at <https:// perma.cc/399Y-2NJH>. Advance Copy