PARLIAMENTARY REPORT
AUSTRALIA
DUAL CITIZENSHIP CRISIS IN AUSTRALIA FEDERAL PARLIAMENT High Court disqualifies 4 Senators, 1 MP and Senate President resigns The dual citizenship crisis confronting the Australian Parliament has gone from bad to worse in recent months. Section 44(i) of the Australian Constitution states that “any person who is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power shall be incapable of being chosen of or sitting as a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives.” On 14 July, the Deputy Greens Co-Leader, Senator Scott Ludlam announced that he was resigning as a Senator because he was in breach of the dual nationality provisions in section 44 of the Australian Constitution. Little did Senator Ludlam know that his action would set in train a series of events that would lead to the disqualification of the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Barnaby Joyce, MP; the resignation of the Senate President, Senator Hon. Stephen Parry; and the disqualification of Senators Ludlam, Larissa Waters, Malcolm Roberts and Fiona Nash. The Member for Bennelong, John Alexander, MP (Liberal) resigned on 11 November after he confirmed that he had British dual citizenship. A by-election is scheduled for 16 December. Senator Jacqui Lambie (Jacqui Lambie Network) resigned on 14 November citing her British citizenship. In the months ahead there are expected to be more resignations.*
The loss of Mr Joyce and Mr Alexander will mean the Turnbull Government will lose its majority and will need to govern with the support of the cross bench, although this is only expected to be temporary as Mr Joyce is expected to be re-elected at his by election on 2 December. Mr Alexander is facing a tougher battle in his by-election as he goes head-to-head with former New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally. The loss of the Deputy Prime Minister has hurt the government and the opposition is questioning the legality of certain decisions made by him as his election was not compliant with the constitution. The commentary of the Prime Minister, Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, MP, during the saga is notable. When Senator Ludlam announced that he would be resigning the Prime Minister criticised the Greens for their sloppiness. Mr Turnbull commented that “it is pretty amazing, isn’t it, that you have had two out of nine Greens Senators didn’t realise they were citizens of another country. It shows incredible sloppiness on their part. You know, when you nominate for Parliament, there is actually a question - you have got to address that Section 44 question and you’ve got to tick the box and confirm that you are not a citizen of another country. It is extraordinary negligence on their part.” But Mr Turnbull did not hold this position for long. Shortly afterwards four members of the coalition were subject to review under section 44 with three being disqualified. On 14 August, the Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Barnaby Joyce, MP, advised the House
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that he may be in contravention of section 44. The Prime Minister refused to stand him down from his ministerial functions while the High Court reviewed Mr Joyce’s case. The Prime Minister, with much confidence, advised the House that “the Leader of the National Party, the Deputy Prime Minister, is qualified to sit in this House, and the High Court will so hold.” But the High Court did not. The timing of the resignation of the Senate President, Senator Stephen Parry, has raised questions about his judgement. On 27 October, the High Court handed down its findings on the citizenship status of seven Parliamentarians. A few days after the judgement, Senator Parry announced that he may be a British citizen and he was asking the British Home Office to check. On 1 November, Senator Parry admitted that he did indeed have British citizenship and as a result he would be resigning. But this raised questions about how long Mr Parry had these doubts and why he did not reveal them earlier. The Prime Minister commented that “I’m disappointed that Senator Parry didn’t make public this issue, this issue some time ago, quite some time ago.” When a Parliamentarian is disqualified they receive advice from the Department of Finance that they repay their salary debts or seek a waiver from the Special Minister or State. So far all disqualified Parliamentarians have received a waiver although it is not clear that this will continue. The debts waived for Mr Joyce and the four Senators disqualified is estimated to be $8.8 million.
Mr Parry’s situation has raised wider questions about the citizenship status of other Parliamentarians which has led to calls for a citizenship audit of all Senators and Members. The Prime Minister has dismissed the proposal noting that each Senator and Member had a personal responsibility and obligation to comply with the Constitution. Mr Turnbull in explaining the problems with an audit commented that “does that mean that somebody is going to undertake extensive genealogical research on every Member of Parliament and Senator? Undertake extensive research into foreign laws?” Mr Turnbull concluded that “the only body that can declare somebody disqualified from the Parliament for this reason is the High Court of Australia and, of course, ultimately it’s the only body that can resolve disputes about it.” Similarly, the opposition was not supportive of an audit. On 6 November, the Prime Minister, under increasing party pressure to address the dual citizenship problem, announced a process whereby each Senator and Member would self report and provide an assurance to their respective House of their citizenship status. The new system would operate similar to the House Register of Members’ Interests which lists Members’ financial and pecuniary interests. The purpose of the Register of Members’ Interests is to place on the public record Members’ interests which may conflict, or may be seen to conflict, with their public duty. Similarly, the Senate has a Register of Senators’ Interests.