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George Brandis says citizenship crisis will last for months as Labor attacks 'circus' Coalition says citizenship crisis will last months but MPs will keep voting
(about 2 hours later)
The attorney general, George Brandis, believes the high court won’t be dealing with the citizenship crisis that has embroiled seven MPs and senators until October, leaving Malcolm Turnbull’s one-seat majority hanging in the balance. The Turnbull government says if any more Coalition MPs are found to be dual citizens they will continue to vote in parliament until the high court settles their eligibility.
Senator Nick Xenophon, the latest Australian politician caught up in the dual-citizenship scandal, has described it as a “festering farce” and attacked his opponents for spending hours trying to knock him off. Arthur Sinodinos, the minister for industry, innovation and science, has said it was wrong for the Nationals senator Matt Canavan to promise to refrain from voting in parliament after he discovered he held dual Italian citizenship, because he did so when he did not know all the details of his case.
The crossbench senator revealed he was a British overseas citizen by descent on Saturday as a result of his father emigrating to Australia from a British territory. He said the Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, and the deputy Nationals leader, Fiona Nash – who have also discovered they are dual citizens – were right to keep voting in parliament until their eligibility was settled by the high court.
He said Joyce and Nash would be the standard for any other Turnbull government MPs who may be found to be dual citizens.
“I think the standard that’s been set will now stick,” Sinodinos told the ABC on Sunday. “What we need to do is make sure everybody takes responsibility for their own situation, in terms of members of parliament, and we work our way through this as quickly as possible, get the high court to make decisions relevant to what’s going on and we move on.”
The decision to keep all Coalition MPs voting in parliament is an attempt by the Turnbull government to retain control of the House of Representatives, where it holds a one-seat majority.
The attorney general, George Brandis, believes the high court won’t be dealing with the citizenship crisis that has embroiled seven MPs and senators until October, leaving that majority in the balance.
If Joyce is found by the court to be ineligible to sit in the parliament, it would trigger a byelection in his seat of New England.
Brandis said the legal advice he had received said there was no problem with Joyce and Nash remaining in the cabinet and making executive decisions.
“If there is anyone who is a threat to the integrity of the parliament at the moment is [opposition leader Bill] Shorten because of the devious tactics he has employed,” he said.
Sinodinos also dismissed concerns that the validity of Turnbull government decisions could be challenged in court if Coalition MPs were proven to have been ineligible.
“The advice I have received to date is that decisions in the parliament and decisions by ministers, the validity of those decisions, will not be affected,” he said.
ABC host Chris Ulhmann then asked: “If it turns out that Barnaby Joyce should not have been in cabinet … people can take it to court, and we’ve seen plenty of ‘lawfare’, particularly from environmental groups, they may well decide to test that argument in another court?”
Sinodinos replied: “I’m not going to speculate on where the high court will come out. The point is that there was very strong advice given to the government about whether Mr Joyce stands [and] Fiona Nash.”
On Saturday, the crossbench senator Nick Xenophon said he would become the seventh MP to refer himself to the high court after he discovered he was a British overseas citizen.
He said he had received advice from the British Home Office that it considered him a British overseas citizen because his father, Theodoros Xenophou , was from Cyprus – a British colony until 1960 – and moved to Australia in 1951.
When Cyprus gained independence, most Cypriots lost their British citizenship except those who moved to one of nine countries, including Australia. This made Xenophon’s father a British overseas citizen, a status that automatically extended to Xenophon, who was born in Australia.
“The legal advice I have had is that I should just keep calm and carry on and wait for the high court to determine this,” he told the Nine network on Sunday.“The legal advice I have had is that I should just keep calm and carry on and wait for the high court to determine this,” he told the Nine network on Sunday.
It comes after the deputy Nationals leader, Fiona Nash, revealed on Friday she was a UK citizen by descent, the third member of the prime minister’s cabinet to be affected. The parliament has already referred Canavan, the Greens senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam, and the One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, as well as Joyce, to the court. On Friday night, Nash revealed she was a UK citizen by descent – the third member of the prime minister’s cabinet to be affected.
The senior Nationals MP Darren Chester conceded it had been a “rotten few weeks” for his party. The senior Nationals MP Darren Chester conceded it had been a “rotten few weeks” for his party. “We need to be better at our vetting process when people nominate to be a candidate,” he told ABC television.
“We need to be better at our vetting process when people nominate to be a candidate,” he told ABC television.
The parliament has already referred the Nationals senator Matt Canavan, Greens senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam and the One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, as well as the deputy prime minister and Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, to the court.
The high court will have a directions hearing on the matter on Thursday where a judge will get the parties together and agree to a timetable over the various steps towards the hearings.The high court will have a directions hearing on the matter on Thursday where a judge will get the parties together and agree to a timetable over the various steps towards the hearings.
“The commonwealth will be asking the court to deal with the matter urgently,” Brandis told Sky News. “The commonwealth will be asking the court to deal with the matter urgently,” Brandis told Sky News. While the court will have a sitting in September, he thinks realistically the issue won’t be heard until the first fortnight of October.
While the court will have a sitting in September, he thinks realistically the issue won’t be heard until the first fortnight of October. The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said the high court had a record of dealing very quickly with urgent cases and hoped it will be cleared up within a couple of months.
The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said the high court has got a record of dealing very quickly with urgent cases and hopes this will be cleared up within a couple of months.
“I think every Australian will be looking at this and thinking what a circus,” he told ABC television.“I think every Australian will be looking at this and thinking what a circus,” he told ABC television.
Joyce’s situation puts the government’s majority in the House of Representatives at risk should there be an adverse ruling by the high court.
Xenophon said Joyce’s decision not to stand down was causing disruption on the floor of the House of Representatives.Xenophon said Joyce’s decision not to stand down was causing disruption on the floor of the House of Representatives.
“It would probably be simpler for the government if the ministers stood aside but it’s really a political issue, not a legal issue,” he later told Sky News.“It would probably be simpler for the government if the ministers stood aside but it’s really a political issue, not a legal issue,” he later told Sky News.
He confirmed his NXT party would still support the government on matters of confidence and supply. At the conclusion of the last federal election, the government entered agreements for confidence and supply with some of the lower house crossbenchers as a precautionary measure, but last week independent MP Bob Katter said he would no longer guarantee supply and confidence to the government.
Brandis said the legal advice he had received said there was no problem with Joyce and Nash remaining in the cabinet and making executive decisions. Xenophon confirmed his NXT party would still support the government on matters of confidence and supply.
“If there is anyone who is a threat to the integrity of the parliament at the moment is [opposition leader Bill] Shorten because of the devious tactics he has employed,” he said. Australian Associated Press contributed to this report