Liberal MP Craig Kelly breaks ranks to call for probe into citizenship status

A TURNBULL Government backbencher has called for an audit of all parliamentarians’ eligibility to sit in parliament, as the MP citizenship saga continues.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he’s not a British “secret agent”.

A TURNBULL government backbencher has called for an audit of all parliamentarians’ eligibility to sit in parliament.

NSW Liberal MP Craig Kelly has broken ranks with colleagues to argue all MPs should be forced to prove that they rescinded any claims to the citizenship of another country.

The audit has been pushed by crossbenchers and the Greens but roundly rejected by the Coalition and Labor.

It came after Labor leader Bill Shorten ridiculed claims he needed to prove he has renounced his British citizenship before entering parliament.

SECTION 44 WOULD CLAIM STATE SCALPS

SHORTEN: I’M NOT A POM, TRUST ME

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says he’s not a British “secret agent”.

Mr Shorten said it was a “desperate” government was rolling out a conspiracy he was a “secret English agent”.

“The reality is, no I am not. I renounced my citizenship in 2006. There is no whiff of anything to the contrary,” Mr Shorten said.

The eligibility of two senior government figures — Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce and his Nationals deputy Fiona Nash will be tested along with five other senators by the High Court later this week. It is likely the process could take months to finalise.

Mr Kelly said the “mess” with Section 44 of the Constitution reflected on the government and it had been punished for it in the opinion polls.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was revealed to be a New Zealand citizen by descent.

“I would like ... an audit of every member of parliament that actually has to show evidence to make sure that they are (eligible),” Mr Kelly told Sky News.

Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor has attacked the “classic hypocrisy” of Bill Shorten for refusing to show documentation he rescinded his British citizenship.

Mr Taylor said the Opposition Leader was playing “tricky politics” and would not hold himself to the standards he sets the government.

“We are seeing the classic hypocrisy here from Bill Shorten that we just see again and again and again,” Mr Taylor told Sky News this morning.