Stephen Parry confirmed to be British
While disappointed Parry didn’t come forward sooner, the PM says eligibility checks are a “personal responsibility”.
Malcolm Turnbull says while he is “disappointed” that Senate president Stephen Parry didn’t come forward sooner with doubts over his citizenship status, he would not support an independent audit as a solution to the unfolding constitutional crisis.
“I’m disappointed that Senator Parry didn’t make public this issue some time ago, quite some time ago. I learnt about it probably around the same time you did, on Tuesday, yesterday,” the Prime Minister said at a press conference in Israel.
“He chose to delay his reporting of it, he should have reported it much earlier and it could have been referred to the High Court along with the other matters that were dealt with.”
He stressed it was now the “personal responsibility” of every senator and member of parliament to do thorough checks on their eligibility.
“It’s very important to remember every member and senator has an obligation to comply with the Constitution. Now, any member of senator who believes that they are not in compliance with the Constitution or believes they may be dual citizen should take steps to confirm that. And if they believe that is the case then they can take steps to ensure it is referred to the High Court.”
Mr Turnbull rejected the idea of an audit.
“The fundamental point though, this point about the audit, what is an audit? Does that mean someone is going to undertake genealogical research on every member of parliament? The fact is every member and every senator has a personal responsibility and obligation to comply with the Constitution. So everyone should ensure they are in compliance and if they are not they should say so. And if there is a question of doubt then of course it can be referred to the High Court.”
Parry ‘should have acted sooner’: Cormann
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says “there is no question” Senate president Stephen Parry should have acted sooner when he first learned he may be a dual citizen.
The Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate told the ABC’s 7.30 Report there was no need for an independent audit of federal politicians and argued the onus is on the individual to act.
“The situation with Senator Parry is very unsatisfactory, and indeed it would have been preferable if Senator Parry made the decision he ultimately made sooner though it’s good that he swiftly took responsibility and made the decision to resign once it became made clear he was in breach with the Constitution,” he said.
“Senator Parry should have acted sooner; there is no question about that. In the end — whether it is in relation to the eligibility of members of parliament and their compliance with the Constitution or in relation to other legal processes — the burden of proof here is on those alleging breach, and if there’s a suspicion someone is in breach and that person doesn’t come forward themselves, there is the opportunity to pursue appropriate action through the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns. That’s the appropriate way to handle this.”
He denied this arrangement amounted to “self-policing” and said the correct processes were in place to deal with the complicated issue.
“I’m a constitutional conservative, and we are preserving the very important features of the constitutional arrangements underpinning our democracy and I understand why people are superficially attracted to an audit, given the events of the last few months. I certainly can understand that. But we need to be very careful about the consequences that would come from this,” he said.
Joyce takes veiled swipe over Parry
Barnaby Joyce has taken another dig at the Liberals by delivering a veiled swipe at former Senate President Stephen Parry for not revealing he could be a dual- citizen as soon he had doubts about his eligibility to sit in parliament. Mr Joyce — who was punted from office by the High Court last week — today said other members of parliament needed to speak up immediately rather than wait to fall foul of the constitution.
“All I can say is the National Party, when we had doubts, we owned up straight away and went to the High Court,” he told AAP just hours before Senator Parry confirmed he was a British citizen and was resigning.
“I think it’s incumbent upon all people in parliament that have concerns, that they’re to state them.” Senator Parry waited until after Friday’s High Court ruling to seek clarification on his status from the British Home Office.
Mr Joyce said it was likely others would be in breach of section 44 of the constitution which cost him the leadership of the Nationals. “I think I’m absolutely certain these people reside in the Labor Party as well,” he said.
Parry confirmed as British citizen
Senate president Stephen Parry has confirmation from the UK government he is a British citizen, as the Liberal and National parties fight over who should replace him in the senior role.
Senator Parry received advice from the UK Home Office today and said in a statement to his Senate colleagues he would submit his resignation as both president and a Tasmanian MP to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove tomorrow.
“With a heavy heart I inform you that I have received advice from the British Home Office that I am a British citizen by virtue of my father’s birthplace, thereby being a dual citizen under the provisions of the Australian Constitution,” he said.
“Because my departure is rapid and an unexpected event, I will not have the usual opportunity to address you in the Senate one last time. I wish to thank all of you as colleagues, many of whom I regard as good friends — from all quarters of the chamber — for your support and confidence in me.”
Senator Parry made a final plea with his colleagues not to create too many references or inquiries “that will further burden an already overloaded committee system”.
“I wish my successor all the best and trust that she or he will continue with the reforms that I have commenced, particularly in attaining greater independence from the executive by way of an independent funding model for all of the parliamentary departments,” he said.
“I quoted the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in my first speech. It is fitting, and somewhat ironic, that I quote him again in from a letter Lincoln sent to A.G. Hodges in April of 1864 in my closing remarks on my Senate life: ‘I claim not to have controlled events, but confess plainly that events have controlled me’.”
The Australian yesterday revealed Senator Parry wrote to the home office seeking confirmation of his status, after it emerged his father was born in Britain.
Attorney-General George Brandis said Senator Parry told him about his citizenship issue on Monday, three days after the High Court handed down a black letter law ruling that disqualified five parliamentarians for being dual citizens, including former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce.
Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz said he like many were “deeply disappointed” Senator Parry would leave the Senate.
“Stephen has not only been a valued colleague but has been an exceptional president of the Senate and chief whip before that,” Senator Abetz said.
“While this is a disappointing turn, Stephen can find comfort in his stellar list of achievements for the people of Tasmania and for the parliament.”
Senator Abetz, who won the party’s No 1 spot on the state Senate ticket at the 2016 election, said he was confident the next-in-line Richard Colbeck would now take up Senator Parry’s seat.
“Richard has been a dedicated servant of the people of Tasmania and I am confident he would hit the ground running if re-elected to the Senate as a part of the Tasmanian Liberal Senate Team,” he said.
It emerged yesterday that Senator Parry pulled out of a parliamentary delegation to India before the High Court judgment was handed.
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.”
‘Give Wacka the job’: Nats
Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion has backed Nationals senator John ‘Wacka’ Williams to become Senate president if Stephen Parry is found ineligible to sit in parliament.
Senator Scullion, the leader of the parliamentary Nationals while Barnaby Joyce campaigns in New England, said the 62 year old would be a “great” Senate president — despite the role always going to a Liberal Party member under the Coalition agreement.
“He has those particular characteristics of respect across the parliament and is a decent character and has always behaved that way and that’s why he would have the support across the chamber,” Senator Scullion told Sky News.
“I have to say it’s my greatest wish that Senator Parry stay in the Senate and that’s what Wacka Williams will say.
“But should that (not) be the case I think Wacka would make a great president for the senate.”
Senator Williams said he would throw his hat in the ring for the role and that it was time a Nationals senator was considered as president.
“I will certainly show some interest in it,” Senator Williams told The Australian.
“The Nats have never done it and I think it should be considered; perhaps it’s our turn to do it for a small period of time.”
The lobbying by the Nationals for Senate president comes amid tensions between the two Coalition parietes after Mr Joyce and Fiona Nash were struck out of parliament because they were dual citizens.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said Senator Williams was respected on both sides of the Senate.
“If there is indeed a vacancy for the presidency of the Senate then he will seriously consider it, Wacka has been a deputy chair for a long time in the Senate and he is respected by both sides of the house,” Senator McKenzie told Sky News.
Liberal senator Eric Abetz said the Senate presidency should go to a Liberal.
“Wacka Williams is a very good friend of mine and I get on with him exceptionally well and I would vote for him on one condition: that he joins the Liberal Party party room,” Senator Abetz said.
“I don’t think he will so Wacka won’t be able to be in the race. This is a Liberal Party position, it always has been and always will be.”
Abetz backs audit
Liberal MP Eric Abetz has thrown his support behind an audit of the eligibility of all parliamentarians, putting him at odds with the Turnbull government.
Senator Abetz joined Liberal MP Craig Kelly in calling for a full audit after Senate president Stephen Parry revealed yesterday he was probably a duel British citizen.
Mr Kelly first called for a full audit in August, with Senator Abetz joining the call today as the fallout of the potential duel citizenship of his fellow Tasmanian Liberal senator rankles the Turnbull government.
“The situation with Stephen Parry does suggest there needs to be some type of audit or consideration to ensure that the integrity of the parliament is maintained,” Senator Abetz told Sky News.
“That is what the Australian people deserve in these circumstances, these are very difficult circumstances for the government, for individual MPs.
“But at the end of the day we need to concentrate on the integrity of the parliament and the confidence the Australian people can have in its decision making capacity.
“If Stephen Parry finds himself in this unfortunate situation there may well be others.”
Government ‘a soap opera’
Earlier, acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek labelled the Turnbull government a “soap opera” as she poured doubt over claims Malcolm Turnbull only found out about the Coalition’s latest potential duel citizen this week.
Ms Plibersek said it was “extraordinary” Senate president Stephen Parry confessed yesterday he may be a British citizen after presiding over High Court referrals of seven other MPs.
“The notion that at no time did he consider that he himself might not be eligible is very difficult to understand,” Ms Plibersek said this morning.
“It’s also difficult to comprehend that the first time he mentioned this to other members of the government was yesterday.
“It seems very strange that Senator Parry wouldn’t have mentioned this earlier, so I think it is actually vital for the Prime Minister to say when he and his office were informed that there was a possibility that Senator Parry is not eligible to be elected to the Senate.”
She also slammed Senator Parry for not standing aside as Senate president while the British Home Office determines his citizenship status.
“Once again we’ve got a Prime Minister too gutless to act,” she said.
“This is has been an extraordinary time of chaos in Australia. We’ve got Members of Parliament dropping like flies, we’ve got the leader of the Nationals one minute saying he is absolutely confident he’s eligible in the House of Representatives and the next minute telling us he had a gut feeling he wasn’t eligible.”
Ms Plibersek said she was “very confident” no Labor MP was a dual citizen, despite ongoing question marks around Tasmanian MP Justine Keay and ACT senator Katy Gallagher.
She rejected the need for an audit into all parliamentarians’ eligibility.
“We have got strict processes and careful procedures when people are applying to be candidates. There isn’t any chaos that involves the Labor Party, it is chaos of the government’s own making,” she said.
Labor has demanded Acting Prime Minister Julie Bishop outlines ministerial decisions that are vulnerable to a legal challenge as the Turnbull government is hampered by citizenship chaos.
Opposition acting legal affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong wrote to Ms Bishop demanding the government make public the list of decisions that are potentially invalid due to the ineligibility of former Coalition ministers Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash.
It comes as Ms Bishop claims the “business of parliament will continue” despite the revelation Senate president Stephen Parry is probably a dual citizen.
“While the Prime Minister’s regrettable decision to insist Mr Joyce and Ms Nash remain in their positions cannot be undone, the government owes it to the Australian people to do everything within its power to minimise further instability,” Senaotr Wong wrote.
“Accordingly, I ask that you immediately make public the list of potentially invalid decisions the Attorney-General is now considering.
“I also ask you to commit to making the advice the government receives about the legal status of ministerial actions purportedly taken by Mr Joyce and Ms Nash public, including any decisions made by Mr Joyce when he was minister for resources and Northern Australia.”
Ms Bishop said on Monday there “may be a few decisions” which could be open to a challenge.
“The Attorney-General said that we’ll look at those,” she said.
Earlier, Ms Bishop addressed the revelation Senator Parry is in danger of being ineligible of sitting in parliament because he may be a dual citizen.
Ms Bishop said the government would “rather not be in this position” but rejected its citizenship woes would make the 45th parliament unworkable.
“Clearly we would rather not be in this position but we are dealing with it, we retain 75 out of the 149 seats in the parliament, we have sufficient support form the crossbenchers on supply and confidence to ensure that the parliament continues to work,” Ms Bishop told Sky News.
“The business of parliament will continue, of course we would rather not be in this position but we will deal with it.”
She defended Senator Parry for not acting sooner to tell the parliament he may be a dual British citizen despite seeing seven other MPs refer themselves to the High Court.
“My understanding is he read the judgement, he realised that it could have implications for him and then he quite properly sought advice,” Ms Bishop said.
“He has come forward with his concerns, he has admitted that he has sought advice and he is awaiting that advice.”
The Australian yesterday revealed the Tasmanian senator wrote to the British Home Office seeking confirmation of his status, due to the fact his father was born in Britain.
It came after a troubled week for the government after Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash were found ineligible due to their dual citizenships and were thrown out of parliament by the High Court.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said Malcolm Turnbull was being “cowardly” for not having a full audit of the citizenship status of all parliamentarians.
He said Senator Parry should have brought his citizenship concerns to the attention of parliament as soon as he became aware he may be a dual citizen.
“To wait and hope that the High Court were going to hand down (a different) verdict and that would have given him some cover, if that is the case then that’s clearly not appropriate,” Senator Di Natale told ABC radio.
The Greens leader demanded the government release its legal advice from Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue QC, which purportedly gave the government confidence Mr Joyce and Ms Nash would be allowed to stay in parliament.
“I’m really concerned that what they have done is misled the Australian parliament by indicating that they had higher confidence of the advice than was possibly given by the Solicitor-General,” he said.
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