Hopes On A Passport To Victory
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday April 12, 2008
IT'S a long way from Haberfield to Rome, and in Sydney's Italian heartland folks care more about citizenship than the corruption charges their likely next leader has faced, says an aspiring MP.
For about 100,000 Italian-Australians - part of the overseas constituency covering Oceania, Africa, Asia and Antarctica - it is local issues that matter in this weekend's Italian general election, Teresa Todaro Restifa, 56, said. She is standing for Silvio Berlusconi's Il Popolo della Liberta party. Ms Restifa, of Milsons Point, has no qualms about backing Mr Berlusconi, Italy's most controversial politician - who, when last in power, introduced a law guaranteeing immunity from prosecution for himself while in office. He has dodged many accusations of corruption over his career and is campaigning to lead the country for the fifth time. "I believe he is a fantastic leader, I don't believe there is a reason why he can't lead the country. Nothing has ever been proven," she said. One corruption charge relates to claims by the Melbourne-based government senator Nino Randazzo. On November 1 he was invited to breakfast with Mr Berlusconi. His claim, that Mr Berlusconi offered him the deputy foreign minister's post in the next government to "stay away" from Italy long enough to bring down the government, is under investigation. Mr Randazzo refused the offer but the government toppled a few months later anyway. "The most important issue" is to win back dual citizenship for a generation who gave up their Italian passports to become Australians, Ms Restifa said. "The other two elected members ... have not been present in the community. You can be in Rome but you [must] come back." She said, if elected, she would spend one week a month in Australia, "or in Africa, you represent them too". World - Page 19
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald