Malcolm Roberts referred to High Court

Malcolm Roberts has become the fourth senator this week to have his election referred to the High Court.

Pauline Hanson and Senator Malcolm Roberts. Picture: AAP.

UPDATED: The Senate has unanimously referred the election of One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts to the High Court, after his leader Pauline Hanson conceded the case surrounding his citizenship had become “very complex”.

Senator Hanson asked the Senate to back the referral hours after it emerged the Greens had enough votes from Labor and the crossbench to carry its own motion, which would have also sent Senator Roberts’ election to the court.

The One Nation leader stood by Senator Roberts and claimed questions over his eligibility had been “taken completely out of context by some media”.

The High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, will now determine if Senator Roberts should be disqualified from parliament under section 44 of the Constitution, which says a citizen of a foreign country is incapable of running for parliament.

Senator Roberts was born in India to a Welsh father and claims he was never British, despite saying his renunciation was registered by the UK government in December last year — six months after nominations closed and five months after the election.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale declared Senator Roberts’ story had “changed more times than I’ve changed underpants” and said “serious questions” remained about his eligibility.

The government had refused to back the Greens motion to refer Senator Roberts but supported Senator Hanson’s move on the basis One Nation wanted the referral.

“One might be forgiven for thinking that being a senator is one of the most hazardous occupations in Australia at the moment, with six people declared elected at the 2016 election either resigning or being referred to the Court of Disputed Returns,” Attorney-General George Brandis said.

In a train wreck press conference that failed to clear up many questions, Senator Roberts said he was a “citizen of the UK and colonies” when he applied to become an Australian in 1974.

“I have always thought that I was Australian,” he said.

The admission follows repeated statements from Senator Roberts and One Nation that he had never been a citizen of another country or chose to believe he was not British.

Senator Hanson said she had decided it was best that she put a referral motion to the chamber.

“As the leader of One Nation I have always made it quite clear that there should be the highest level of openness, transparency and accountability in government,” she said.

“With that in mind, One Nation will be supporting Senator Malcolm Roberts in his plan to refer himself to the High Court. It was always Senator Roberts’ intention to submit his citizenship documents for public scrutiny and, in light of the major parties decision not to hold a full inquiry into the citizenship of senators, it was deemed that the High Court would provide Senator Roberts the best opportunity to prove he has complied with the Australian Constitution and is a lawfully elected senator of the Australian parliament.”

Senator Hanson said she had seen Senator Roberts’ relevant citizenship documentation and insisted he was not a dual citizen.

“Senator Roberts’ case is a little bit more, can I say, it’s not straight forward as you may think. But that needs to now be determined by the High Court, I will not be responding to your questions with regards to it,” she said.

“This is in the public’s interest. I am strongly of the belief that everyone in this chamber should be an Australian citizen, should not have allegiance to another country, and I truly do believe that of Senator Roberts.”

Senator Roberts, who accused the media of “pursuing” him more than other foreign-born MPs, argues he took “reasonable steps” to renounce any dual citizenship before he nominated to become a One Nation candidate.

“I’m looking forward very much to tendering my documents to the High Court,” he said.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has provided a number of documents Senate President Stephen Parry that he says “strongly suggest” Senator Roberts was a UK citizen at time of nominating to run for parliament.

The documents, collected by the minor party through “multiple sources”, include a Commonwealth government record in which Senator Roberts gave notice of his desire to become an Australian citizen in 1974.

His citizenship at the time is listed as “(British) UK + colonies”. The documents show the Roberts family became Australian citizens later that same year.

Former Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters had their elections referred to the High Court yesterday after they discovered they were citizens of New Zealand and Canada respectively. The election of Nationals senator Matt Canavan, whose mother apparently signed him up to Italian citizenship when he was 25, will also be tested.