Bill Shorten calls for candidates to release their citizenship documents

Bill Shorten has called for all candidates in the Super Saturday by-elections to make their citizenship documentation public.

Shorten said it would be “prudential” for people to explain that they’re eligible to run. Picture: AAP

Bill Shorten has called for all candidates in the Super Saturday by-elections to make their citizenship documentation public, after 35 per cent of them either failed to lodge paperwork or refused to have their documentation published.

The farcical process was revealed yesterday after 17 of the 48 candidates for the five by-elections, including lead contenders for the seat of Mayo Rebekha Sharkie and Georgina Downer, chose not to complete a voluntary citizenship checklist or declined to have their documents made public by the Australian Electoral Commission.

The section 44 “qualification checklists”, introduced following the dual citizenship fiasco, were published by the AEC for the first time yesterday.

All Labor candidates allowed the AEC to make their documents public.

Mr Shorten said it would be “prudential” for people to explain that they’re eligible to run.

“We’ve seen all of the confusion, we’ve seen the High Court making new decisions, I think for the absence of any doubt people should put forward their documentation, full stop,” the Labor leader said.

“I think all people running for office should do that now.

“I think that people want to just be certain that who they’re voting for is eligible to run. I just think it’s prudential isn’t it?

“It’s common sense of the candidates to remove any doubt. We’ve seen the law evolve and now I think it’s time for everyone to move on, focus on the people, not on themselves.”