Coalition lasers in on ALP’s citizenship pain

Emma Husar, the Labor MP for western Sydney’s marginal seat of Lindsay, comes under pressure to prove she is not a dual citizen.

Labor MP Emma Husar says she is not a dual-citizen. Picture: Ray Strange

Labor MP Emma Husar, who holds the marginal western ­Sydney seat of Lindsay by 1.1 per cent, has broken her silence to declare she is “not a dual citizen”, amid a fresh attack from the ­Coalition over whether she has proved she is eligible to sit in federal parliament.

In an escalation of the citizenship crisis, Attorney-General Christian Porter yesterday ­declared some Labor MPs were yet to prove their dual citizenship had been renounced.

“There are members of the Labor Party who just haven’t abided yet by the (citizenship) register,” Mr Porter said.

The register shows Ms Husar and fellow NSW Labor MP Emma McBride sought to renounce their dual citizenship but neither provided proof the application was acted upon.

Malcolm Turnbull yesterday flagged new measures to weed out dual-citizen candidates ahead of the upcoming “Super Saturday” by-elections, sparked by the resignations of three Labor MPs and one crossbencher who admitted breaching section 44 of the Constitution. The Prime Minister ­hardened his opposition to ­constitutional change, after a ­parliamentary committee recommended a referendum to overhaul section 44, which prevents dual citizens standing for office.

The introduction of new integrity measures could delay the by-elections until July. Bill Shorten, under pressure to hold four Labor seats on Super Saturday yesterday warned the government against pursuing “birther” theories about opposition MPs unless it wanted Labor to go after its members.

As revealed in The Weekend Australian on Saturday, Ms Husar sent a letter to the Polish consul on May 24, 2016, acknowledging she might have acquired Polish citizenship through her ­paternal grandfather.

In the ­letter, sent 16 days before the close of nominations for the 2016 election, Ms Husar renounced “all allegiance, obedience or adherence to Poland, and … Polish citizenship”.

However, there is no evidence provided from the Polish government ­acknowledging receipt of the ­letter, or confirmation of the ­renunciation of her citizenship.

Ms Husar told The Australian that her case was closed.

“You have to have something to renounce. You have to have something in order to give it back. I am not a dual citizen,” she said. “I have nothing to renounce. There is nothing for me to give back.”

She said Polish citizenship laws were “incredibly complex”, and “there is no automatic acquisition of Polish citizenship that I need to renounce”.

Following the lead of the Opposition Leader, Ms Husar tried to shift attention to NSW Liberal MP Jason Falinski, who has also faced questions over his Polish dual-­citizenship status. “I did mine well before the election. Have a look at the date when Falinski did his. February of this year,” she said.

Mr Falinski has posted on the citizenship register a signed letter from the Polish ambassador stating “You are not entitled to the rights and privileges of Polish citizenship”. The member for Mackellar, in Sydney’s north said his father was not Polish, and he had “pages and pages” of legal ­advice to support his contention that he too was not a Polish citizen.

Ms McBride declined to comment yesterday. The member for Dobell has produced a signed “Declaration of Alienage” form renouncing her Irish citizenship, dated August 9, 2013. However, there is no confirmation provided from the Irish government that the form was lodged or acted upon.