The Australian High Court yesterday declared the Deputy Prime Minister and National's leader ineligible to sit in Parliament because of New Zealand citizenship inherited through his New Zealand-born father.
Mr Laing and Mr Joyce share a grandfather, Lieutenant-colonel John Patrick Joyce, DCM, OBE, of the Royal New Zealand Artillery.
Mr Laing's mother, Elizabeth, and Mr Joyce's father, Jim Joyce, were two of his four children, raised in Hampden.
As the citizenship row escalated in August, Mr Laing said he watched the news unfold with ``disbelief''.
``He might have roots back here, but I think he really is an Australian.
``He was born and bred there. He was born in Australia, his mother was Australian.
``I feel really disappointed, too - I feel quite sad for him. He's done a lot of work to get where he has and then just to have it all taken away. I think it's just a political thing. It's just the Opposition over there trying to score points.''
