Liberal Alex Hawke the latest MP under citizenship cloud

YES, another one. Liberal MP Alex Hawke has been forced to prove he’s not a dual citizen after it was revealed he could have been Greek.

Alex Hawke is the latest MP to have a cloud over his head regarding citizenship status. Picture: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

LIBERAL junior minister Alex Hawke has rejected claims he could be a dual citizen, after it was revealed his mother was born in Greece.

The assistant immigration minister says he was born in Wollongong and has never held Greek citizenship through his mother, who moved to Australia in the 1950s.

“I am an Australian citizen only and have never held or acquired or sought Greek or any other citizenship,” he told the Daily Telegraph.

A person acquires Greek citizenship at birth “if said person is born to a parent of Greek nationality”, whether it is activated or not. But Greek citizens need to be registered in the Records of a Municipality of the Hellenic Republic, News Corp reported.

Liberal MP Alex Hawke denies he was ever a Greek citizen.

Meanwhile, the Greens will move to set up a committee to force senators to prove they aren’t dual citizens when the Senate next sits.

The move follows reports that both major parties began carrying out checks on all their MPs’ status behind the scenes months ago after former Greens senator Scott Ludlam dropped the bombshell that he was a dual citizen, Fairfax Media reports.

“There is now no longer any excuse for the government not to commit unequivocally to a transparent, independent audit of every single member of parliament,” Greens leader Richard Di Natale told Fairfax, referring to the secret checks.

Greens leader is pushing for a committee to force senators to prove their citizenship status. Picture: Stefan Postles/AAP

The Turnbull government has flatly rejected federal Labor’s proposed circuit breaker to the crisis: a universal disclosure process for MPs.

“It is gutless leadership to fob off the Australian people and say ‘nothing to see here’,” Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said.

He accused Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of hypocrisy, saying parliament had become a circus and was in danger of losing the faith of the Australian people.

The Senate next sits on November 13. The House does not sit again until November 27.