Election 2022: One Nation Senate hopeful Steve Mav rejects citizenship ‘issue’

One Nation’s Tasmanian Senate hopeful has denied his Greek heritage could impact his eligibility, but declined to release documents he says clear of him of any Constitutional problem.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson with Tasmanian Senate candidate Steve Mav.

One Nation’s Tasmanian Senate hopeful has denied his Greek heritage could affect his eligibility, but declined to release documents he says clear of him of any constitutional problem.

Steve Mav on Thursday ­accused opponents of “dirty tricks” after questions were raised about whether he had taken sufficient steps to renounce his right to Greek citizenship.

Under section 44 of the Constitution, candidates for federal office must take “all reasonable steps” to extinguish foreign ­citizenships.

Mr Mav’s “qualification checklist” lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission states that both his parents, and their parents, were born in Greece.

In the form, the former local government councillor states that he has never been the citizen of another country, but he does not provide any supporting documentation to prove he took all reasonable steps to renounce any latent Greek citizenship.

Mr Mav told The Australian he had such proof – a letter from Greek authorities confirming he had never been a citizen – as well as evidence he had relinquished a US green card.

He said he presented these to the AEC when running as an ­independent in 2019 but had not seen the need to provide them again.

He was not able to provide them on Thursday. “I’m too busy waving (at voters in passing cars) and campaigning across Tasmania to engage in the dirty tricks of the Liberal Party, who have been caught with their pants down doing a dirty deal against One Nation,” Mr Mav said.

The AEC said outside a legislated timeframe around each election, privacy laws prevented it from releasing any documentation provided by past, unsuccessful candidates.

Several federal MPs and senators were forced out of parliament in 2017-18 over dual citizenships, with the High Court adopting the “reasonable steps” test.

Mr Mav said this was a test he had met. “In 2019, before I ran, I got the letter from the Greek embassy and I had made sure that I was not ineligible,” he said.

“I went through the process of getting confirmation from the Greek government that I had never been and never was a citizen or subject of Greece.

“The AEC has got it. In 2019, the documents were public. I also disclosed a US green card – a permanent residency card – which I had to renounce.”

He did not believe he was a citizen of Greece by birthright. “No – because I went through the process of confirming and ­renouncing that I was ever or could ever be a Greek citizen,” Mr Mav said.

“I’ve got nothing to hide but I’m not going to be reactive to (calls for) justification,” he said. The Liberal Party did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr Mav is confident of securing Tasmania’s sixth Senate spot, despite the Liberal Party deciding to preference him after rival Tammy Tyrrell, of the Jacqui Lambie Network.

The decision has prompted One Nation to threaten to put moderate Liberal MPs after Labor on its how-to-vote cards.