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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2017/oct/27/politics-live-high-court-citizenship-joyce
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| Barnaby Joyce and four senators ruled ineligible for parliament – politics live | Barnaby Joyce and four senators ruled ineligible for parliament – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 5.33am BST | |
| 05:33 | |
| With Nick Xenophon being ruled eligible for election, but resigning from the senate to stand in the SA state election, that leaves a casual vacancy for the Nick Xenophon Team ... which means they can fill it with whomever they want. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.34am BST | |
| 5.27am BST | |
| 05:27 | |
| Just a quick update if you are just tuning in: | |
| The high court has ruled Barnaby Joyce, Fiona Nash, Larissa Waters, Scott Ludlam and Malcolm Roberts were ineligible to be elected | |
| Matt Canavan and Nick Xenophon were found to be safe | |
| A byelection will be held in New England (around 2 December) | |
| Joyce admitted he “felt in his gut this is the way it was going to go” | |
| The government has lost its one-seat majority, but still has the vote of Tony Smith, the speaker | |
| Independent MP Cathy McGowan has guaranteed supply to the government | |
| Malcolm Roberts will run in the Queensland state election in the Labor seat of Ipswich | |
| Nick Xenophon will formally resign in the next few weeks and run in the South Australian state election | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.29am BST | |
| 5.22am BST | |
| 05:22 | |
| The prime minister has announced a media conference for 3.30pm AEDT. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.24am BST | |
| 5.22am BST | |
| 05:22 | |
| Nick Xenophon, who plans on resigning his senate seat, says he feels sympathy for his colleagues who have been ruled ineligible: | |
| Whatever political differences I have with some of them, there is no question of their love for and loyalty to Australia. They have been caught by this section of the constitution and, obviously, there will be plenty to reflect on that in the future. The irony of the decision is not lost on me as it has always been my plan to leave the federal parliament, to resign from the Senate, which I will now be doing in the very near future,within a week or so, in order to contest the South Australian seat of Hartley in state parliament because politics in South Australia is broken and I want to do all I can to fix the broken state of politics in South Australia. I will be around for a few more days, not in Canberra, there will be committee work to do in relation to the Murray Darling basin next week in New South Wales and Adelaide and that is a critically important issue for South Australia and the nation. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.26am BST | |
| 5.19am BST | |
| 05:19 | |
| Fiona Nash, the former deputy leader of the Nationals and former regional development minister has released a statement: | |
| I came into parliament in 2004 after winning preselection for a NSW Nationals senate spot, as a farmer and proud mother of two young boys. I did so to try to improve the lives of rural, regional and remote Australians, who despite producing the food, water, electricity, gas and exports which power this nation, often have reduced access to basics which city people take for granted like doctors, health care and tertiary education. | |
| I always aimed to help build rural, regional and remote communities our children and grandchildren either wanted to stay in or come back to. | |
| Through 12 years of hard work, I’m really proud of the things I’ve been able to achieve. | |
| · Pressing forward with a whole-of-government decentralisation program, because regional Australians deserve public sector jobs just as much as capital city people do, and there’s no good reason for most agencies to be in a capital city | |
| · Creating the half-billion dollar Building Better Regions Fund, which co-invests with regional communities to improve the lives of the people who live in those communities | |
| · Delivering the Mobile Black Spots Programme and the 765 mobile towers to rural Australia | |
| · Turning around the performance of the Sky Muster satellites. Sky Muster delivers broadband network to the last 3% of Australians, even those living in the outback or on remote islands or in mountain ranges. Sky Muster data was doubled this month, almost free of charge to users. Stability is 87% better this September than last September. It’s now a very good service. | |
| · Delivering fixed wireless broadband to 3 per cent of rural Australians, mostly outside towns. It’s a great technology and very popular. | |
| · Releasing the Regions 2030 statement, the first time a regional vision statement had been delivered in more than a decade | |
| · The appointment of Australia’s first Rural Health Commissioner to advocate for rural health and help identify the varied skills held by many rural doctors and reward them appropriately as “Rural Generalists”. The commissioner will also create a pathway to enable young doctors to become Rural Generalists | |
| · The National Ice Taskforce and historic $300m investment in drug and alcohol treatment and education | |
| · Initiating an important independent report into organ donation, which changed the game in Australia, then driving towards important and life-saving reform including online registration for organ donors· The Indigenous Health Implementation Plan, which received tri-partisan support | |
| · Redirection of $50m in GP subsidies to doctors in small country towns rather than those in cities as large as Cairns and Townsville (174,000 people). | |
| · Helping stop the takeover of Graincorp by ADM. | |
| It has been an honour to serve the people of this nation. | |
| I thank all my colleagues who have been so supportive, not just recently but over many years; particularly of course my National party colleagues. | |
| I have the most wonderful staff in the building, and I thank Team Nash for their incredible loyalty and dedication to excellence. | |
| I thank my wonderful sons, Will and Henry, for all their support, and of whom I am so proud. | |
| I will continue to fight for rural, regional and remote Australians – no matter where my life path takes me. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.23am BST | |
| 5.15am BST | |
| 05:15 | |
| Cathy McGowan, the independent MP for Indi has also released a statement, confirming she will continue to supply a confidence vote to the government: | |
| Independent member for Indi, Cathy McGowan, has welcomed the clarity provided by the high court today on the citizenship of several members of parliament. | |
| My position has not changed. There will be no deals. As an independent I will consider every bill on its merits, and will continue to represent the interests of my electorate. I will continue to supply confidence and support to the government. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.20am BST | |
| 5.13am BST | |
| 05:13 | |
| She is asked about plans the party had to try to make Fraser Anning step aside to make room for Roberts to return (the Roberts replaces Roberts plan) which Hanson originally denied. Journalist Adam Gartrell tells her he has documentation and she says she hasn’t seen it. Malcolm Roberts cuts in to say that he will have more to say about that later. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.19am BST | |
| 5.12am BST | |
| 05:12 | |
| Hanson begins to get angry at suggestions her party processes were not in order, given she has now lost two senators (including Rod Culleton). | |
| “It is devastating what is happened, but I am not the only person here facing this, the other parties are, and One Nation hasn’t been around as long as the others. You think they would have got it right and they haven’t.” | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.15am BST | |
| 5.10am BST | |
| 05:10 | |
| Malcolm Roberts “expresses his regret” but does not accept that he was wrong. | |
| Pauline Hanson does not apologise for saying “hand on heart” she could assure the Australian people that she had seen Roberts’ documents and he was not a dual citizen. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.18am BST | |
| 5.08am BST | |
| 05:08 | |
| Malcolm Roberts to run in Queensland state election | |
| Malcolm Roberts is speaking at a press conference in parliament. He is standing next to Pauline Hanson, who is highly emotional and looks to have tears in her eyes. | |
| He thanks Hanson for “never flinching”. | |
| Hanson says she is “absolutely devastated at losing” Malcolm Roberts, who she describes as “unique”. | |
| She says Queensland has not lost Malcolm Roberts - he will stand for the seat of Ipswich in the Queensland state election. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.14am BST | |
| 5.06am BST | |
| 05:06 | |
| Tanya Plibersek is speaking at a press conference in Sydney: | |
| We’re not planning any mischief, we are deeply concerned that Australia is facing a period of uncertainty because this prime minister has insisted on keeping to ministers on his front bench who have been not only in eligible to be ministers but in eligible to be in the parliament – two ministers. It’s bizarre that the prime minister asked Senator Canavan to stand aside, he’s been found to be in eligible the whole time, and didn’t ask Barnaby Joyce or Senator Nash to stand aside. They’ve been found to be ineligible. | |
| I think one of the extraordinary revelations this afternoon is Barnaby Joyce thought himself ineligible, he said he was prepared for this outcome, and yet day after day in the parliament he’s been voting on legislation, some legislation that is passed only very narrowly with very serious consequences, he’s been making decisions as a minister, all of those decisions are now perhaps subject to legal challenge. All the while the deputy prime minister thought he was ineligible to be a member of parliament. | |
| Of course the real question here goes to the judgement shown by Malcolm Turnbull. Malcolm Turnbull stood up in parliament and said that he was absolutely confident that Barnaby Joyce was eligible to be a member of parliament and the high court will so hold. I mean, extraordinary that the prime minister would be assuming what the high court would find and in fact turning out to be utterly wrong in his assumptions. | |
| We’ve got a prime minister who is made these bad judgement calls again and again when he should have asked Barnaby Joyce to stand aside, he should have asked Senator Nash to stand aside from the cabinet, he allowed them to continue. He got the call on Senator Canavan wrong too and now, of course, he’s defending Michaelia Cash in the same way he defended Barnaby Joyce. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.18am BST | |
| 5.02am BST | |
| 05:02 | |
| In terms of who will take over as Nationals leader, there were reports it would be Nigel Scullion. | |
| That is yet to be confirmed. There is also Matt Canavan in the mix, now that he has been found safe. | |
| Updated | |
| at 5.05am BST | |
| 5.01am BST | |
| 05:01 | |
| I’ve just been told the prime minister will speak in the next hour or so. | |
| 4.59am BST | 4.59am BST |
| 04:59 | 04:59 |
| There is a sitting of parliament before the byelection is held. The house is scheduled to sit on 27 November. | There is a sitting of parliament before the byelection is held. The house is scheduled to sit on 27 November. |
| Malcolm Turnbull is due to fly to Israel this afternoon. Once he leaves the country, (if he still does) I believe Julie Bishop would be acting prime minister, now that Barnaby Joyce no longer sits in parliament. | |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 5.01am BST | |
| 4.55am BST | 4.55am BST |
| 04:55 | 04:55 |
| A clarification: the government still has its “absolute majority” as Tony Smith can vote in the event of a tied vote. | A clarification: the government still has its “absolute majority” as Tony Smith can vote in the event of a tied vote. |
| Indi MP Cathy McGowan has agreed to continue to support the government is matters of confidence. | Indi MP Cathy McGowan has agreed to continue to support the government is matters of confidence. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 4.58am BST | at 4.58am BST |
| 4.52am BST | 4.52am BST |
| 04:52 | 04:52 |
| Albanese says Joyce has learnt nothing, as he announced the byelection date in his press conference, despite not having the authority to do so. | Albanese says Joyce has learnt nothing, as he announced the byelection date in his press conference, despite not having the authority to do so. |
| Joyce said he expected it to be held around 2 December. That is the earliest it can be held, as long as the writs are issued in the next few days. | Joyce said he expected it to be held around 2 December. That is the earliest it can be held, as long as the writs are issued in the next few days. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 4.53am BST | at 4.53am BST |
| 4.50am BST | 4.50am BST |
| 04:50 | 04:50 |
| Anthony Albanese is speaking to Sky. | Anthony Albanese is speaking to Sky. |
| He says that both Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce have been “humiliated” by what the high court found. | He says that both Malcolm Turnbull and Barnaby Joyce have been “humiliated” by what the high court found. |
| “And that is why it has been so unwise that he has continued to sit as the deputy prime minister.” | “And that is why it has been so unwise that he has continued to sit as the deputy prime minister.” |
| Albanese says it is “breathtaking” that Joyce has admitted that he thought the decision would go against him, as he continued to sit in parliament. | Albanese says it is “breathtaking” that Joyce has admitted that he thought the decision would go against him, as he continued to sit in parliament. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 4.52am BST | at 4.52am BST |