New system to weed out dual citizen MPs considered ahead of five by-elections
A NEW system to force future politicians to prove they aren’t dual citizens is being considered, as a new poll finds most MPs have no sympathy for politicians caught up in the scandal.
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A NEW system to force potential politicians to prove they aren’t dual citizens is being considered by the government ahead of a ‘Super Saturday’ of by-elections sparked by the mass resignations of four MPs last week.
The new system could push back five by-elections to be held in the federal seats of Perth, Fremantle, Braddon, Longman and Mayo until early July, Fairfax Media reports.
One option that could be considered is an online tool that would force candidates to lodge a declaration on their citizenship status, along with any documents to prove their claim, before nomination.
The online system was raised as a possibility by the Australian Electoral Commission late last year to prevent future citizenship scandals.
Meanwhile, a new poll shows most Australians have lost sympathy for any federal politicians caught up in the dual citizen fiasco.
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In results that do not bode well for former Labor MPs Susan Lamb, Justine Keay, Josh Wilson and crossbench MP Rebekha Sharkie, who all resigned last week, a special Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows 51 per cent of Australians believe politicians should be disqualified if they fail to renounce their foreign citizenship.
That’s a marked increase on August last year when only 44 per cent of voters said MPs with citizenship issues should be disqualified.
The results come after the total number of MPs caught up in the fiasco rose to 15 last week after the High Court ruled Labor senator Katy Gallagher was ineligible to sit in Parliament because she did not renounce her British citizenship before nominating as a candidate for the 2016 election.
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Ms Lamb, Ms Keay, Mr Wilson and Ms Sharkie then resigned within hours of the ruling.
Speaker Tony Smith is currently considering possible dates for by-elections in their four seats, as well as for a by-election in Perth triggered by Labor MP Tim Hammond’s shock resignation two weeks ago.
Mr Hammond resigned to spend more time with his family.
Amid reports of a new system for proof, Labor confirmed today Ms Lamb had renounced her British citizenship.
It took six days for the former Queensland MP to renounce after she resigned.
BREAKING: Susan Lamb has successfully renounced her UK citizenship #auspol pic.twitter.com/QqmqRL1NIi
— Anthony Galloway (@Gallo_Ways) May 15, 2018
Ms Lamb had previously told Parliament she was unable to provide the UK Home Office with one of the necessary documents, her parents’ marriage certificate, because of a relationship breakdown with her mother.
Last week, the Home Office agreed to process her renunciation without the marriage certificate.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten today said Ms Lamb “did everything she could” before the last election to provide the UK authorities with the information they needed.
“On this occasion, the UK Home Office has been more flexible and we’re happy that she has no cloud over her eligibility to serve in the Parliament,” Mr Shorten said today.
He said he was surprised the dates for five by-elections had not yet been set.
The government will now decide on whether to introduce other measures to prevent another dual citizenship scandal.
A Parliamentary Committee which examined Section 44(i) of the Constitution will report on the findings of its inquiry on Thursday.
It’s understood Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will not back any recommendations for a referendum to change the Constitution.