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| Labor MPs will 'definitely' be referred to high court, says Pyne | Labor MPs will 'definitely' be referred to high court, says Pyne |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Christopher Pyne has threatened the Turnbull government will “definitely” start referring Labor MPs with a question mark over their citizenship status to the high court if the opposition does not take action. | Christopher Pyne has threatened the Turnbull government will “definitely” start referring Labor MPs with a question mark over their citizenship status to the high court if the opposition does not take action. |
| The Coalition had done the right thing with its own MPs, Pyne said on Sunday, and Australians needed to be certain that all politicians serving in Parliament House in Canberra were “sitting there legitimately”. | The Coalition had done the right thing with its own MPs, Pyne said on Sunday, and Australians needed to be certain that all politicians serving in Parliament House in Canberra were “sitting there legitimately”. |
| “We will definitely do it,” he told Sky News, referring to the government’s warning that it will work with crossbench MPs to refer Labor MPs to the high court. | “We will definitely do it,” he told Sky News, referring to the government’s warning that it will work with crossbench MPs to refer Labor MPs to the high court. |
| “There is absolutely no reason the parliament should not vote to refer those members to the high court if the Labor party refuses to do the right thing. | “There is absolutely no reason the parliament should not vote to refer those members to the high court if the Labor party refuses to do the right thing. |
| “I mean, you couldn’t have a position where there is a cloud over members like Susan Lamb, Justine Keay, Josh Wilson, Madeleine King, Rebekha Sharkie, potentially others, from the other side of parliament, who sit there right through until the next election with a cloud over their status, voting on every matter before the parliament, whereas the government does the right thing and sends its members to the high court and people resign and cause byelections. | “I mean, you couldn’t have a position where there is a cloud over members like Susan Lamb, Justine Keay, Josh Wilson, Madeleine King, Rebekha Sharkie, potentially others, from the other side of parliament, who sit there right through until the next election with a cloud over their status, voting on every matter before the parliament, whereas the government does the right thing and sends its members to the high court and people resign and cause byelections. |
| “That doesn’t pass the pub test,” Pyne said. | “That doesn’t pass the pub test,” Pyne said. |
| Pyne’s threat was a doubling down on Malcolm Turnbull’s threat from last week that Labor may have to see some of its own MPs referred to the high court in coming weeks. | Pyne’s threat was a doubling down on Malcolm Turnbull’s threat from last week that Labor may have to see some of its own MPs referred to the high court in coming weeks. |
| It also came a day after Liberal MP John Alexander confirmed his intention to resign from parliament, saying he no longer had sufficient certainty that he was a sole Australian citizen, after checks with the British Home Office, so he had no choice but to resign. | |
| The development has triggered a snap byelection in the Sydney seat of Bennelong - once represented by former Liberal prime minister John Howard - costing the increasingly precarious Turnbull government its lower-house majority. | |
| Labor has already announced it will be running a candidate in Bennelong , but says it is too early to say who its candidate will be. | |
| “We’re in the process right now of determining who our candidates are,” Tony Burke, the shadow minister for citizenship, said on Sunday. | |
| “I was on the phone yesterday to the Labor party secretary, the process won’t take an incredibly long amount of time.” | |
| Turnbull warned last week that he reserved the right to garner numbers in parliament to refer Labor MPs to the high court. | |
| He made the threat after Labor leader Bill Shorten sought assurances from him that there would be no “partisan” referrals to the high court, and that senators or MPs who stated the grounds on which they were eligible should not be forced to court. | |
| It was an attempt by Shorten to take the heat off Labor MP Justine Keay, who has admitted her renunciation of British citizenship was not effective by the 9 June deadline last year, and Susan Lamb and Josh Wilson, who have not denied it. | It was an attempt by Shorten to take the heat off Labor MP Justine Keay, who has admitted her renunciation of British citizenship was not effective by the 9 June deadline last year, and Susan Lamb and Josh Wilson, who have not denied it. |
| Turnbull said this amounted to Shorten asking the government not to refer Labor MPs who were UK citizens at the time of nomination “but claim that lodging a renunciation declaration prior to that nomination protects them from disqualification”. | Turnbull said this amounted to Shorten asking the government not to refer Labor MPs who were UK citizens at the time of nomination “but claim that lodging a renunciation declaration prior to that nomination protects them from disqualification”. |
| He refused to give the assurance they would not be referred, saying the government would refer any individual where there were “substantial grounds” for believing they were in breach of the constitution. | He refused to give the assurance they would not be referred, saying the government would refer any individual where there were “substantial grounds” for believing they were in breach of the constitution. |
| Burke rejected Pyne’s threat on Sunday, saying it was illustrative of the Coalition’s “born-to-rule” approach to governing. | |
| “It wasn’t that long ago that the exact approach that Christopher Pyne and Malcolm Turnbull were advocating today was said by [attorney general] George Brandis to be dangerous,” Burke said. | “It wasn’t that long ago that the exact approach that Christopher Pyne and Malcolm Turnbull were advocating today was said by [attorney general] George Brandis to be dangerous,” Burke said. |
| “He said that sort of approach would be dangerous, and now it’s government policy,” Burke said. | “He said that sort of approach would be dangerous, and now it’s government policy,” Burke said. |
| He dismissed suggestions that the Labor MPs currently under the spotlight had not renounced their dual citizenship before the nomination date for last year’s election, saying they took all reasonable steps required under the constitution. | He dismissed suggestions that the Labor MPs currently under the spotlight had not renounced their dual citizenship before the nomination date for last year’s election, saying they took all reasonable steps required under the constitution. |
| Malcolm Turnbull, speaking in Vietnam, where the APEC summit was wrapping up, | Malcolm Turnbull, speaking in Vietnam, where the APEC summit was wrapping up, |
| reiterated his call for Labor to refer its own MPs to the high court if they were under a citizenship cloud. | reiterated his call for Labor to refer its own MPs to the high court if they were under a citizenship cloud. |
| “There is no question that Labor has a number of members who not only were, but knew they were, foreign citizens at the time they nominated for parliament,” he said. | “There is no question that Labor has a number of members who not only were, but knew they were, foreign citizens at the time they nominated for parliament,” he said. |
| “That makes them ineligible. If they believe they can persuade the court to take a somewhat different tack, good luck to them. But the place to determine that is in the court,” Turnbull said. | “That makes them ineligible. If they believe they can persuade the court to take a somewhat different tack, good luck to them. But the place to determine that is in the court,” Turnbull said. |