Australia Senator Xenophon Latest Caught in Citizenship Web
Australia Senator Xenophon Latest Caught in Citizenship Web
(Bloomberg) -- Senator Nick Xenophon became the seventh Australian lawmaker to become engulfed in the nation’s citizenship imbroglio, potentially breaching a 117-year-old law that bars people with dual nationality from sitting in parliament.
The independent lawmaker said he’ll refer himself to the High Court after he discovered he has a form of British citizenship. Xenophon, a left-leaning South Australian who controls three seats in the Senate, told reporters in Adelaide on Saturday that he had "never contemplated" that he could have held British citizenship. His father’s background as a Cypriot meant he’s a British overseas citizen by descent.
The citizenship fiasco has seen lawmakers across all the major parties check their parentage to see if they may be in violation of Section 44 of the constitution, which says people are disqualified from becoming federal lawmakers if they are “a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power.” Dual nationals are required to renounce citizenship of other nations before entering parliament.
The issue sprung to national attention after the resignations of the two deputy leaders of the Greens, Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters, last month. Ludlam and Waters were dual citizens of New Zealand and Canada, respectively, and both resigned from parliament on discovery of their status.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told Channel 9 at the time that it showed "incredible sloppiness" and "extraordinary negligence" on the part of the Greens. Those comments came back to bite when Turnbull’s Resources Minister Matt Canavan discovered he held Italian citizenship, and deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was found to be a citizen of New Zealand. The opposition has called for Joyce to step down from his Cabinet positions pending High Court judgment.
Government Plight
Joyce’s deputy and rural health minister, Fiona Nash, became the third Cabinet member in potential breach when she revealed she held British citizenship. The growing constitutional crisis is threatening to undermine the legitimacy of Turnbull’s government even as he expressed confidence that the court would rule in the coalition’s favor.
Turnbull’s government, already trailing in opinion polls and struggling to deliver a policy agenda, could lose its one-seat majority in the lower house if the High Court rules that Joyce and the other lawmakers must quit parliament.
The court will begin hearing five of the cases in Brisbane on Aug. 24.
--With assistance from Jason Scott
To contact the reporter on this story: Chelsea Mes in Sydney at cmes@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stanley James at sjames8@bloomberg.net, Jeff Sutherland, Andy Sharp