By-election candidates keep eligibility under wraps

Seventeen people across five by-elections have refused to reveal whether they are eligible to run for federal parliament under new rules.

Liberal candidate for Mayo Georgina Downer did not give permission for her eligibility checklist to be published. Picture: AAP

Nearly 40 per cent of candidates contesting the super Saturday by-elections, including lead contenders for the seat of Mayo Georgina Downer and Rebekha Sharkie, have not filled in or refused to have published their “qualification checklists” to demonstrate they are eligible to be elected.

Candidates have for the first time been asked to prove to voters they were not dual citizens before nominating to run for parliament by completing a checklist outlining their ancestry, whether they were ever a citizen of a foreign country and what steps they took to renounce that citizenship.

The checklists were published by the Australian Electoral Commission today.

But 17 of the 48 candidates (35 per cent) contesting by-elections across the country on July 28 have chosen not to complete the exercise, which is voluntary, or declined to have their documents made public.

Other candidates have filled in the form and revealed a parent or grandparent was born in another country but failed to provide documentation proving they were not dual citizens.

Ms Sharkie, who resigned as the member for Mayo in May because she was a British citizen when she nominated for the 2016 election, has completed her checklist but told The Australian she did not want it published because she believed personal information would be released.

“Maybe it was the advice we received from the AEC. (An official) didn’t say anything about (personal) information being redacted, (they) said ‘if you tick ‘yes’ these documents will be published’,” the Centre Alliance candidate said.

“If there’s a way for all that documentation to be out there without personal details, I’ve got no issue with that.”

Her declaration of renunciation of British citizenship is already online as part of the 45th parliament’s citizenship register.

The Australian has been told Ms Downer’s checklist will be made public by the end of the day. It is unclear why it has not already been published.

The Liberal Party’s star candidate has said she renounced her British citizenship in September.

All other major party candidates contesting the seats of Mayo, Longman in Queensland, Braddon in Tasmania, and Perth and Fremantle in Western Australia have completed their forms.

Susan Lamb, Josh Wilson and Justine Keay — the ex-Labor members for the seats of Longman, Fremantle and Braddon who resigned from federal parliament because they were British citizens when they nominated at the last election — have included their declarations of renunciation in their checklist paperwork.

Candidates running for Mayo and Braddon were the tardiest, with four in each seat either failing to fill out their checklist or not wanting their document published. There are seven candidates running in Mayo and eight in Braddon.

It is not compulsory for candidates to complete the checklist in order to be nominated.

The AEC’s website states candidates are able to redact, omit or delete any information they do not want published, including personal information, before submitting documentation.