British link drops top Liberal senator Stephen Parry in crisis

The Coalition’s hold on its slim majority at risk amid fears Liberal ­Senate president Stephen Parry may not be the last dual citizen.

Senate President Stephen Parry.

The Turnbull government’s hold on its slim majority in parliament could be at risk amid fears that other MPs could be dual citizens, following revelations Liberal ­Senate president Stephen Parry is likely a British citizen.

The Australian yesterday ­revealed Senator Parry wrote to the British Home Office seeking confirmation of his status, after it emerged his father was born in Britain.

Malcolm Turnbull, who was forced to delay his trip to Israel after the High Court last week ruled Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash ineligible to sit in parliament, faces a new citizenship ­crisis, leading to concerns other MPs will be caught out.

Senior government officials are understood to be urging restraint in going after Labor MPs under a citizenship cloud — including Tasmanian MP Justine Keay and senator Katy Gallagher — for fear of sparking recriminations in the lower house.

Senator Parry’s revelation he could be a British citizen, which is likely to be confirmed within days, has turned the focus back on Mr Turnbull’s Liberal Party, which had blamed its junior Coalition partner, the Nationals, for failing to undertake proper checks on candidates.

After more than three months of dealing with the High Court cases of seven MPs, the Turnbull government now faces the prospect of referring another senator to resolve a potential breach of section 44 of the Constitution.

Attorney-General George Brandis, who said he was informed of Senator Parry’s situation on Monday, yesterday raised the prospect of legislating a work-around to circumvent the difficulties posed by the section.

“It may be that the issue can be dealt with legislatively, without putting the public to a referendum,” Senator Brandis said.

“The operation of section 44 as we now understand from the High Court could potentially be to disqualify millions of Australians from standing for parliament. That is not a good thing. So in one way or another, the issue does need to be dealt with.”

It emerged yesterday that Senator Parry pulled out of a parliamentary delegation to India before the High Court judgment was handed down on Friday. An email sent to MPs travelling on the delegation said: “President Parry is required to be in Canberra next week and therefore cannot travel as originally planned.”

Labor yesterday questioned the timing of the disclosure.

Senator Parry is the first Liberal to confront a potential breach of section 44, which bars those with dual citizenship from entering parliament.

The Australian has confirmed Senator Parry spoke to former Liberal Tasmanian senator Richard Colbeck over the weekend. Mr Colbeck, who was tourism and international education minister until losing his seat in last year’s election, indicated he would be happy to fill a vacancy in the upper house.

“If there is a vacancy and there is a recount, I will make myself available,” Mr Colbeck said. “I feel sorry for the position Stephen finds himself in.”

Senator Parry’s case has reignited calls for an audit to be conducted into the citizenship of all federal parliamentarians — an ­action that could trigger further by-elections and fatally weaken the government if more lower house Coalition MPs were discovered to have dual nationalities.

Acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek said the Turnbull government was lurching from “crisis to crisis”, arguing it was extraordinary that Senator Parry, who oversaw several High Court referrals as Senate president, did not reflect earlier on his own eligibility. “Malcolm Turnbull must tell Australians whether he knew there were doubts over Senator Parry’s eligibility,” Ms Plibersek said. “This revelation now raises questions about the Liberal Party’s negligence when it comes to proper vetting processes.”

The new citizenship scandal involving Senator Parry, who earns $355,302, has turned a fresh focus on Labor parliamentarians who have been quizzed on their citizenship status, including Ms Keay, Senator Gallagher and Labor Senate leader Penny Wong.

In a statement released by Senator Parry, he confirmed that following the High Court decision he had “cause to examine my citizenship status in relation to my late ­father having being born in the United Kingdom”.

Senator Parry said that if he was found to hold British citizenship, he would “clearly be in breach of section 44” and he would resign as president of the Senate. He would also resign as a Tasmanian senator and “not await the outcome of any referral to the High Court”.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale — who lost two of his senators to section 44(i), Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters — said “surely the time has come for the Libs and ALP to back the Greens’ call for an audit of all MPs and end this ­crisis”. Labor senator Sam Dastyari said Senator Parry was a “universally liked bloke” but ­argued it was “hard to see how he oversaw the referrals of other senators to the High Court without ­realising his own exposure”.

University of Sydney constitutional law expert Anne Twomey said the High Court would have to determine what sort of vacancy was left by any disqualification and whether a special countback was necessary if Senator Parry was found to be a British citizen.