Liberal MP John Alexander quits over dual citizenship

PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been dealt a devastating blow as Liberal MP John Alexander quits over his dual citizenship.

FEDERAL Liberal MP John Alexander has today announced he is a dual citizen, confirming his British citizenship in a press conference this afternoon.

Mr Alexander is the second lower house Coalition MP to resign over the citizenship saga and has triggered a by-election for the unpredictable Sydney seat of Bennelong.

Mr Alexander’s decision, coupled with the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, means the Coalition has 74 seats in the 150 seat lower house and has lost its majority.

For a majority, 76 seats are needed.

“I have always believed that I am Australian and solely Australian. In view of recent events and the High Court decision, in my position, I have had to thoroughly examine my situation,” Mr Alexander said today.

“My right to remain in parliament depends on my belief that I am solely Australian. Given what I have learned about the Constitution and understanding now of the High Court decision just a couple of weeks ago, I can no longer, with sufficient certainty, maintain the belief that I have held through my 66 years.

“Therefore, it is my obligation that I must resign. That’s what I will do. I think there is a great need for certainty, to clarify the situation and to do so as expeditiously as possible. I will seek the support of my party to contest the by-election for Bennelong.”

The Federal MP was outed as potentially having British citizenship on Monday night, a claim Mr Alexander said was “not absolutely conclusive”.

“It is not absolutely conclusive, but the balance, the probability of evidence is that I most likely am. I think that I got, simply got to the point I couldn’t hold the belief with the level of certainty that I think I needed to have,” he told the reporters.

Mr Turnbull previously said he would expect the Bennelong MP to step down immediately if he received confirmation he was a British citizen.

“I felt I had to resign, that’s why I have chosen to do. I spoke to the Prime Minister late yesterday. I told him of my intentions. He encouraged me to be decisive, to act expeditiously, and to put things beyond any question of doubt.

“That’s what I think the people of Bennelong want and what Australia is tired of this absurd situation. I don’t have any degrees, I have a degree in common sense and it doesn’t make any common sense,” he said.

The resignation means there will be a second by-election because of the citizenship chaos.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was forced to resign after the High Court found he had dual citizenship with New Zealand.

He faces a by-election in his safe seat of New England on December 2.

Mr Alexander went on to detail his involvement in the Bennelong community.

“I have been involved in this community for a long period of time. From 1981 when I coached tennis during school holidays at Tennis World in Ryde to working for Channel 7 in Epping, to being the general manager, managing director, rather, of Next Generation clubs where we developed the Ryde aquatic centre and the Next Generation club there,” he said.

Despite Mr Alexander’s dual citizenship forcing the MP to resign, he said he is still working hard for the community.

“As the member for Bennelong, I have been hugely proud of this community and I’ve done a refresher course in the last five weeks when I did the 100km walk to raise money and awareness of leukaemia. It was a reminder of the generosity of this community and why I am so proud to support it,” he said.

Federal Liberal Bennelong MP John Alexander takes part in the Worlds Greatest Shave after completing his 100km walk for the same charity. Picture: Justin Sanson

‘HE’S DONE THE RIGHT THING’

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon from Danang, Vietnam, the Prime Minister said Mr Alexander had done “the right thing”.

“I spoke to him last night. He told me that he was no longer sufficiently satisfied or no longer sure that he was not a UK citizen and, as you know, I have said publicly and privately, if members believe that they are ineligible to sit in the parliament, they shouldn’t sit in the parliament. John’s done the right thing. The honourable thing,” he said.

“He has resigned his seat. Bill Shorten and Labor should now seriously consider whether their members who admitted they were UK citizens at the time they nominated, not only were but knew they were, whether they should do the right thing, resign from parliament now and the by-elections could be held on the same day as the by-election for Bennelong.”

When asked if his government had become a “farce”, Mr Turnbull said: “Well, we absolutely are providing stable government and delivering.”

He also denied Labor would be able to pass a no-confidence motion on the government because it no longer had a majority.

“We’ll deal with all those issues when we get there but we have the support of the crossbench on matters of confidence and supply. There is no question of that happening.”

Mr Alexander had to quit no later than Monday to allow 33 days to campaign, the normal minimum for a political campaign.

It would’ve also allowed him to hold the by-election on December 16, the last viable date of the year.

However, even if Mr Alexander could hold the by-election on December 16, he would have to have fully renounced his very-likely UK citizenship before even nominating as a candidate again.

If he officially ran for the seat of Bennelong before having this confirmation, he could be referred to the High Court.

THE SEAT OF BENNELONG

The seat of Bennelong is once again in play after the MP was outed as potentially having British citizenship by descent on Monday.

The son of a British migrant, Mr Alexander admitted on Tuesday he believes his dad renounced his UK citizenship soon after migrating to Australia, but his check has since revealed he is a dual citizen.

Former prime minister John Howard was elected to Bennelong in 1974 and stayed there throughout his parliamentary career when he lost government to Kevin Rudd in 2007.

The seat went to political rookie Maxine McKew, who was rocketed into the hard-fought election with the aid of the public profile she had built up as a high profile journalist with the ABC.

Before entering politics, Ms McKew had held some of the biggest media gigs including hosting the national broadcaster’s Lateline and 7.30 Report programs.

Her political career was however short-lived when the Liberals put up another celebrity candidate against her, winning back the seat with the aid of tennis great Alexander who has now represented Bennelong since 2010.

In last year’s federal election, Mr Alexander won comfortably against Labor’s candidate — North Ryde mum Lyndal Howison — with more than 50 per cent of the vote.

More to come

Originally published as Liberal MP John Alexander quits over dual citizenship