Coalition, Labor strike deal over citizenship crisis

PARLIAMENTARIANS will be forced to declare by the end of the month that they were not a dual citizen when elected under a deal between the Coalition and Labor struck this morning.

PARLIAMENTARIANS will be forced to declare by the end of the month that they were not a dual citizen when elected, or what steps they took to renounce that citizenship, under a deal between the Coalition and Labor struck this morning.

Negotiations took place directly between Labor leader Bill Shorten and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann over the weekend, and will give the Senate one week to refer any senator with question marks over their citizenship status to the High Court.

The federal government has agreed to Labor’s request for a December 1 disclosure date and for more details to be disclosed.

Bill Shorten agreed the deal with Mathias Cormann. Picture Gary Ramage

It is expected the House of Representatives will take up the agreement when it returns in a fortnight.

That could create a number of by-elections across the country, with the government threatening to refer MPs to the court even if they disclose they had taken “reasonable steps” to renounce a dual citizenship at the time of being elected.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann. Picture: AAP Image/Lukas Coch

Replacing senators is a far easier and less politically fraught process as it does not require a by-election.

It is expected a Senate motion to begin the dual citizenship disclosures process will be passed today.

The deal comes after the Turnbull government vowed to end a “protection racket” Labor has run for four suspected dual-citizens, threatening to use its numbers in Parliament to send them to the High Court.

Malcolm Turnbull vowed to end Labor’s ‘protection racket’. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

Labor has so far refused to refer any of its MPs or senators — including Justine Keay, Susan Lamb, Madeleine King and Josh Wilson — to the court over doubts they are eligible. This is despite Ms Keay admitting she was a British citizen at the time of the election and others refusing to clarify when they renounced dual citizenships.

Peta Credlin: Mr Dutton, you’re wrong. The Constitution is right

But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in a clear escalation of language, demanded Mr Shorten “stop running a protection racket for his own dual citizens” and refer those with questions over their status to the court.

“The rule of law means it applies to everybody, and that means it applies to government MPs, the crossbenchers and the Labor Party,” Mr Turnbull said from Hong Kong. “Bill Shorten seems to think the Constitution does not apply to the Labor Party.”

Mr Turnbull will have the support of an unlikely ally if the Coalition moves ahead with its threat to refer Labor MPs to the High Court over citizenship doubts — the Greens.

Greens MP Adam Bandt would support that move, while Queensland independent Bob Katter is also likely to, as the Coalition and Labor up the ante and threaten to send a number of parliamentarians to court as questions over dual citizenships remain unresolved.

“If the government decides to refer someone, if the opposition decides someone should be referred, we think we should honour that,” Greens leader Richard Di Natale said.

Meanwhile, Pauline Hanson has ruled out voting on any controversial legislation — a demand of the Australian Council of Trade Unions — while the citizenship scandal continues.

“I have taken a stance ... that I will not be passing any controversial legislation until we know the citizenship status of everyone in parliament,” she said.

The government had expected votes on its superannuation changes and on new citizenship laws, while same-sex marriage is also likely to dominate debate after the Australian Bureau of Statistics returns the result of the postal survey on Wednesday.