Jacqui Lambie may quit Senate over citizenship concerns

Tasmanian crossbench senator expecting confirmation within next 24 hours to determine if she is a dual citizen.

Senator Jacqui Lambie before the swearing-in of new senators in the senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra today. Photo: Kym Smith

Tasmanian crossbench Senator Jacqui Lambie has revealed she could resign from parliament because she might be a British citizen by descent through her Scottish-born father, Thomas.

Senator Lambie has told media today she will resign immediately if advice from British authorities proves she is a dual citizen and is expecting confirmation in the next 24 hours.

Earlier today, Australian Conservatives Senator Cory Bernardi suggested the government was aware of another Senator who had concerns over their eligibility to sit parliament.

The Australian revealed last week the indigenous identifying crossbench Senator had already held discussions with her father and a lawyer about whether she could be a dual British national — which would disqualify her from sitting in federal parliament.

After the Australian obtained records showing that her father, Thomas, had arrived in Australia from Scotland as a child on the RMS Ormonde passenger liner in 1952, Senator Lambie argued she was still confident she was a sole Australian citizen but did not produce any documents to support her claim.

She released a statement saying that she was “proud” of her Scottish ancestry and had only discovered more about her father’s background in recent weeks as she worked on her autobiography to be published next year.

She said her grandfather came to Australia with his family to enlist in the army and argued a citizenship audit would “clear the air once and for all.”

Senator Lambie said she would present documents to support her case only when she was required.

Senator Lambie was first elected to parliament at the 2013 election for the Palmer United Party and had previously talked of taking her father back to Scotland.

In her maiden speech, she claimed indigenous heritage through her mother’s bloodline, saying that her family traced its history over six generations to the “celebrated Aboriginal chieftain of the Tasmanian east coast, Mannalargenna”.

She broke away from PUP and became an independent Senator in late 2014 before establishing her own political party, the Jacqui Lambie Network in May 2015. Steve Martin was next on the Jacqui Lambie Network Senate ticket for Tasmania and received 233 first-preference votes, according to the Australian Electoral Commission.