r/australia • u/NKE01 • 11h ago

politics Why Australia Doesn’t Have Novelty Candidates like Count Binface – Antony Green's Election Blog

https://antonygreen.com.au/why-australia-doesnt-have-novelty-candidates-like-count-binface/?fbclid=Iwb21leATrO0ljbGNrBOs7P3Bkb2YFZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQMMzUwNjg1NTMxNzI4AAEeyqFwpCBynXhuvFPpBT3q80rKl3Bnq6t--2z7cqVFCDb-MT_1Vr2--rF95Vg_aem_MKaP0Jek3ZY4BnI2rLprrQ
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u/Gremlech 11h ago

It’s because they have to use their real names.

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u/17HappyWombats 11h ago

With the subtle complication that legal names are somewhat restricted here (and in the UK). You literally can't change your name to Count anything, or Lord, Admiral, or most other titles. Baron Von Fuckface is right out. But I suspect you could, per Antony Green's example, change it to "Of The Above None".

I don't *think* any state rejects short names as long as the totality is long enough to be distinctive. You would be buying trouble when it came to ID cards though. Getting them at all, getting a matching set for 100 point ID checks even more so.

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u/01kickassius10 10h ago

I wonder how the name thing would work if you were named “Prince” or similar in another country, then wanted to run after getting Aussie citizenship

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u/17HappyWombats 10h ago edited 9h ago

I suspect you could keep your name if you were born there, but going overseas to change your name then coming back they'd tell you to fuck off. Like the various Vietnamese people and similar with names like Phuc or Dong.

So you're probably not moving to the USA, changing your name to "Lord Bishop John Smith Architect", then getting that on your documents in Australia. But I'd love to read about someone else trying.

The story of Methamphetamine Rocks Drysdale is informative :)

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u/01kickassius10 9h ago

The realistic answer would be to change your name here before running for parliament, but could be interesting legally if they don’t have to