Liberal MP Julia Banks status in question over brother’s Greek citizenship

LIBERAL MP Julia Banks is refusing to explain how she can claim she is not entitled to Greek citizenship when her brother has obtained it.

LIBERAL MP Julia Banks is refusing to explain how she can claim she is not entitled to Greek citizenship when her brother has obtained it.

With the Turnbull Government under fire over the citizenship of a number of its MPs, the Liberal marginal seat holder is facing questions over her eligibility to sit in Parliament, with Labor demanding she be referred to the High Court.

Last night, Labor frontbencher Penny Wong said the new revelations showed Australians could not trust Mr Turnbull or his MPs to fix the citizenship crisis.

“Turnbull must immediately agree to full disclosure and to refer Alex Hawke, John Alexander and now Julia Banks to the High Court to settle their citizenship issues,” she said.

Coalition MP Julia Banks said she is not entitled to Greek citizenship. Picture: Lukas Coch

The Liberal Party in July stated the Greek Embassy had informed it Ms Banks was not entitled to Greek citizenship and was not a Greek citizen.

“We have received confirmation from the Greek Embassy that, according to records, Julia Banks is not registered as a Greek citizen and also is not entitled as a Greek citizen,” the Liberal Party statement read.

However, Ms Banks’ brother, Dr Anthony Lolatgis, is understood to hold Greek citizenship. Liberal sources told The Daily Telegraph Dr Lolatgis registered for citizenship with the Greek Embassy.

The news raises questions about how he could be entitled to dual citizenship if Ms Banks was not.

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Ms Banks, whose father Sofoulis Phillip Lolatgis was born in Greece, is evading direct questions on the matter. She declined to respond to multiple queries over the past two days about her brother’s eligibility for Greek citizenship.

“I’m not a dual citizen and never have been. I have only ever been a citizen of Australia only,” Ms Banks said.

“I look forward to participating in the process (regarding MPs citizenship status) which the Prime Minister announced yesterday.”

The Greek Embassy says the son or daughter of a Greek citizen automatically becomes a Greek citizen, but that citizens must “duly register in the Records of a Municipality of the Hellenic Republic”.

Julia Banks’s brother is understood to be a dual citizen. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke could also be a Greek citizen by descent, with his mother born in Greece.

If Ms Banks is a dual citizen, she would have to contest a by-election in the Melbourne seat of Chisholm which she holds by a slim margin of about 2.2 per cent, threatening the Government’s hold on power.

Mr Hawke’s Sydney electorate is one of the safest seats the government holds, with a margin of 21 per cent.

Mr Hawke denies ever being a dual citizen or ever having “held or acquired or sought Greek or any other citizenship”. He has refused to respond to questions about he details of his citizenship.

In her maiden speech, Ms Banks thanked her father and said he had “first landed in Australia in 1949 as a 15-year-old migrant boy from Greece who could not speak a word of English”.

Mr Turnbull has proposed a disclosure process for all parliamentarians, where those who believe they were foreign citizens need to declare their renunciation documents.

“If the High Court concluded there are a number of members of the House of Representatives that were not eligible to sit in the parliament, then there would be a series of by-elections,” he said.

He acknowledged the by-election results could threaten the government’s majority in the parliament.

“Depending on the result of the by-elections, that could have consequences for the government. I mean that is obvious,” Mr Turnbull said.

Resources Minister Matt Canavan, who was found not to be a dual Italian citizen by the High Court, also said the citizenship reform “could cost the government”. But he added that “the right choice has now been made and we’ve got to make sure we are upfront with the Australian people.