High noon: PM Malcolm Turnbull threatens Labor over dual citizenship
MALCOLM Turnbull is threatening to pull the trigger and refer four suspected Labor dual citizens, including Susan Lamb, to the High Court himself if Bill Shorten won’t end the party’s “protection racket”.
NSW
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THE Turnbull government has 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.
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.
But Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, in a clear escalation of language, demanded Labor leader Bill 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.”
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The comments came soon after senior Cabinet minister Christopher Pyne said the Coalition would “definitely” refer MPs and senators without the co-operation of Labor.
To date, parties have referred their own parliamentarians to the court.
“The Parliament needs to be certain that the members sitting in it are sitting there legitimately and if Labor refuses to play ball, then it’ll be up to the government and the crossbenchers to do the right thing,” Mr Pyne said.
Mr Shorten has also threatened to “go nuclear” and send five Coalition politicians to the High Court over questions on their citizenship status.
A senior Labor source said Mr Shorten was poised to refer suspected Greek dual citizens Julia Banks, Alex Hawke, suspected Italians Nola Marino and Tony Pasin and possible British dual citizen Ann Sudmalis.
“If Turnbull wants to fire this missile, we’ve got the ammo to go nuclear,” they said.
“If I were Julia Banks, Nola Marino or Alex Hawke, I’d be sweating bullets.”
Negotiations are continuing over a citizenship disclosure process in Parliament, with the government hopeful of resolving the issue this week in time for it to begin in the Senate, which returns today.
Mr Turnbull faces a difficult month, with the New England by-election, where Barnaby Joyce is almost certain to be returned, scheduled for December 2. There will also soon be a by-election in Bennelong after Liberal MP John Alexander resigned at the weekend.
Mr Turnbull seemed to indicate he may wait until Mr Joyce is back in Parliament before using the government’s numbers to refer Labor MPs to court where there are “clearly substantial grounds”.