Dual citizenship row: Alex Hawke denies being Greek through his mother’s ancestry

ANOTHER MP has become entangled in the citizenship debacle, assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke being forced to deny he could be a dual Greek citizen.

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ANOTHER MP has become entangled in the citizenship debacle, assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke being forced to deny he could be a dual Greek citizen.

Mr Hawke, who represents Mitchell in northwestern Sydney, said he has “solely held Australian citizenship” after it was revealed his mother was born in Greece and migrated to Australia in the 1950s.

Mr Hawke said: “I was born in Wollongong, have lived my whole life in Australia and have only ever solely held Australian citizenship.

Federal MP Alex Hawke tweeted proudly of his Greek heritage in 2014. Picture: Jess Husband

“I am an Australian citizen only and have never held or acqui­red or sought Greek or any other citizenship.”

According to the Greek Embassy in Canberra, a person acquires Greek citizenship at birth “if said person is born to a parent of Greek nationality”, whether it is activated or not.

“That is, the offspring of a Greek Citizen, even if the parent has not exercised his/her Right to Citizenship,” the embassy said. But it also states that Greek citizens must be “duly registered in the Records of a Municipality of the Hellenic Republic”.

Earlier this year Mr Hawke’s Liberal colleagues, Julia Banks and Industry Minister Arthur Sinodinos, also had to deny they were dual Greek citizens.

Senator Arthur Sinodinos.

At the time, the Liberal Party said the Greek Embassy had confirmed Ms Banks was not registered as a Greek citizen. Senator Sinodinos, whose parents were born on the island of Cephalonia, said he had “never held Greek citizenship”.

But constitutional expert Professor George Williams said their cases had not been tested.

“We have not seen expert opinions on these three MPs with Greek heritage,” he said.

“But the Australian law is clear. If Greek law regards a person as a citizen, they are disqualified from sitting in parliament unless they have taken reasonable steps to renounce Greek citizenship.”

He said the final decision was up to the High Court.

Two Labor MPs with Greek heritage, Maria Vamvakinou and Steve Georganas, have stated they both wrote to the embassy to renounce any rights to citizenship before they were elected.

The Liberal Party and the Greek Embassy confirmed Julia Banks did not have Greek citizenship but an expert says the case has never been tried in court. Picture: Kym Smith

Mr Hawke has so far avoi­ded questions about his eligibility as an MP during the citizenship saga, which has engulfed parliament since July.

During his maiden speech, he paid tribute to his family, who were part of the wave of migration after World War II.

In 2014 Mr Hawke tweeted about his Greek heritage, saying: “I can’t help being born half Greek, in fact I’m proud of it.”

The latest saga comes as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ruled out a citizenship audit of MPs, arguing the High Court was the only way to determine eligibility.

Labor leader Bill Shorten said Parliament looked like a “circus” and urged Mr Turnbull to agree to an audit.

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