Dual citizenship test timeline unacceptable, says Labor

Labor says Malcolm Turnbull’s timeline for MPs’ dual citizenship tests is unacceptable.

Under Malcolm Turnbull’s citizenship self-disclosure regime, MPs in the lower house could wait until February to be referred to the High Court — unless parliament is recalled — with any potential by-­elections pushed out until March.

The Prime Minister’s plan, which does not require legislation, would need to be adopted separately by both the Senate and the House of Representatives with a majority of the members in each chamber required to pass a resolution agreeing to the disclosure regime.

Under the government’s plan, each MP would have to declare they were not a citizen of any other country at the time of their nomination; provide the place and date of their birth (along with that of their parents) and reveal when any foreign citizenship was renounced.

Once the resolution was passed, MPs would be given 21 days to meet the requirements.

Labor Senate Leader Penny Wong yesterday rejected the timeline as unacceptable because it pushed the citizenship issue “down the track to beyond Christmas”.

The 21-day window will be discussed by Mr Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten today at a meeting in Melbourne as they attempt to strike bipartisan agreement on the operation of any disclosure regime.

If the 21-day period remained, it would place differing obligations on Senate and House of Representative members regarding the timing of disclosures.

This is because the Senate is due to sit next week, while the lower house is not due to sit until November 27.

Any resolution passed early next week by the upper house would oblige senators to make their disclosure by the first week of December.

House of Representatives members, assuming a resolution was passed swiftly when the lower house sits, could delay making their disclosures until the week of December 18 — more than 10 days after parliament rises for the year on December 7.

This means a lower house MP could disclose an unwanted foreign citizenship at the end of the 21-day period and the parliament would be unable to refer them to the High Court swiftly because it would be out of session.

The parliament is not due to return until February.

However, it is possible that MPs who discover they are foreign citizens could come forward independently and be referred to the High Court before parliament rises.

If MPs choose to comply with Mr Turnbull’s disclosure regime, any by-elections would be pushed back to at least March, given the minimum campaigning period of 33 days.

Senator Wong yesterday said the disclosure regime proposed by Mr Turnbull was not “good enough”, with Labor keen to ensure any further referrals to the High Court are made before the end of the year.

This would bring forward any by-elections that could challenge the government’s majority and hold on power.

“We have serious doubts about the process,” Senator Wong said.

“We think it is in­sufficient in its current terms.

“We don’t think it provides the assurance that Australians are demanding of their parliament.

“I am flagging that we think the 21 days — trying to push this down the track to beyond Christmas — is unacceptable.”