MPs’ citizenship: Turnbull raises stakes with Shorten over High Court referrals
Malcolm Turnbull has rejected a call for ‘no partisan’ High Court referrals, putting at least four Labor MPs on notice.
Malcolm Turnbull has escalated his clash with Bill Shorten over the citizenship saga by dismissing the Opposition Leader’s demand for “no partisan referrals” to the High Court on who should sit in federal parliament, putting at least four Labor MPs on notice over their eligibility.
The Prime Minister declared the government would refer “any individual” to the nation’s top court to rule on citizenship despite the Labor move to prevent the Coalition using its slim majority in parliament to refer a Labor MP.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne also rubbished Mr Shorten’s request and insisted the government would do “whatever action is necessary” to refer MPs to the court even if Labor refused to back the referral.
The move sets up an explosive dispute in the final weeks of federal parliament for the year when the Coalition reserves the right to refer Labor MPs such as Justine Keay, Madeleine King, Susan Lamb and Josh Wilson to the court.nm,./Mr Turnbull wrote to Mr Shorten on Thursday afternoon suggesting a compromise on the deadline for MPs to declare their citizenship status, putting forward December 7 as the appropriate date because it was 28 days away, the usual timeframe for MPs to make financial disclosures to parliament.
But the Prime Minister rejected the Opposition Leader’s other arguments and declared it “unworthy” for Labor to try to protect some MPs and “absurd” for Labor to suggest Communications Minister Mitch Fifield should be referred to the Senate privileges committee.
The proposed deadline of December 7 cuts the timeframe from the government’s original proposal of December 18 for the lower house. The new timeframe could be applied by a majority vote in the House of Representatives if it does not gain Labor’s support.
With the High Court due to rise on December 15, there is a small window for the court to consider any referrals before the end of the year, although there is no way to hold a by-election before Christmas, setting up March or April as the likely months for any disqualified MPs to face the voters.
While Mr Shorten claimed in public to be seeking a bipartisan agreement on the citizenship issue, he infuriated the government by issuing a letter he had written to Mr Turnbull that rejected the government’s plan and sought a series of assurances about how the Coalition would use its numbers in the parliament.
Mr Shorten asked Mr Turnbull to give an assurance that the Coalition would not use its numbers to prevent any “obviously disqualified” parliamentarian from being referred.
“Further, it is our expectation that all parliamentarians will abide by the established precedent that there should be no partisan referrals,” Mr Shorten said.
“Accordingly no party should abuse its numbers, in either chamber of the parliament, to unilaterally refer senators or members that have stated the clear grounds on which they are eligible under Section 44(i) and are consistent with the most recent decisions of the High Court.”
The Labor request did not clarify how anyone could be sure a Labor MP was right to claim “clear grounds” to remain in parliament.
Mr Turnbull responded in writing to say Mr Shorten’s request was “unworthy” and could not be met.
“The government will vote to refer any individual to the High Court if there are substantial grounds for believing they are in breach of the constitution,” Mr Turnbull wrote.
Mr Pyne expanded on that position in an interview on Sky News when he said there was no “convention” as claimed by Mr Shorten to prevent the government using its numbers to refer a Labor MP to the High Court.
“There’s no such convention and Bill Shorten can’t just make up conventions because he feels like it,” Mr Pyne said.
“The reality is that if a member is not able to fulfil the requirement of the government’s process, its motion that we will put and hopefully have carried, then the government will do whatever action is necessary to protect the integrity of the parliament with or without the Labor Party’s support.”
Shorten demands Fifield inquiry
Bill Shorten has written to Malcolm Turnbull demanding a parliamentary committee grill Communications Minister Mitch Fifield over his “cover up” of the citizenship concerns of former Senate president Stephen Parry.
The Opposition Leader has delivered a letter to the Prime Minister with his draft amendments to the government’s proposal, declaring he would not agree to a request for only “non-controversial legislation” to be considered for the remainder of the year.
“While I appreciate the government’s anxiety about control in the House of Representatives, I cannot agree to the parliament not considering legislation and issues that are of prime importance to the Australian people while we wait on a result from the New England by-election,” Mr Shorten wrote.
He wrote he was “deeply concerned” that members of cabinet “sought to conceal” Mr Parry’s citizenship concerns, asking from Senator Fifield to be referred to the privileges committee.
“As a matter of principle, it should be incumbent on all members of parliament to not be complicit in concealing the ineligibility of another member,” Mr Shorten said.
“I believe this is a most serious lapse of judgment and ask that you support referring Senator Fifield to the privileges committee along with any other member or senator involved in this cover up.”
As well as his demands for tougher disclosure requirements and a shorter time period, Mr Shorten asked for stronger nomination disclosure requirements.
“At the core of our position is the desire of the Labor Party to ensure two things,” he wrote.
“First, that the disclosure resolution in no way waters down the standard set by the High Court, which your current draft clearly does.
“Second, I want to ensure that we resolve this matter before the parliament rises this year and without imposing further costs on the Australian people by requiring the parliament to be recalled.
“A bipartisan solution is possible, however we will not agree to a process that is insufficient to genuinely build public trust in the eligibility of parliamentarians.
Read the letter and Labor’s suggested amendments below:
Campaigning in Queensland this afternoon Mr Shorten said he had “complete confidence” that Labor MPs Susan Lamb and Justine Keay were elected properly, despite concerns they are dual citizens.
“I’ve got complete confidence when we have universal disclosure of all MPs, that both Justine Keay and Susan Lamb have satisfied the necessary tests, full stop,” he said.
This morning Prime Minister accused the Opposition Leader of “not being fair dinkum” in his claims he wants to help solve the MPs citizenship issue, saying their two-hour meeting in Melbourne yesterday was fruitless because Mr Shorten refused to make any detailed comments on the government’s proposal to force MPs to disclose their eligibility to the parliamentary register of members’ interests.
Campaigning in Maryborough this afternoon on the Queensland election trail, the Labor leader said: “What is really important here is not the government attack on a couple of my members of parliament, we need to resolve the citizenship crisis which has engulfed the Turnbull government. Now we had constructive discussions yesterday, but we’re still apart on two significant issues.
“My view is that the people of Australia are fed up, they just want to be certain that their MPs are eligible to do the job they have been voted in to do. There’s only two differences of an immediate nature between myself and the Prime Minister.
“One is, the High Court set down a standard, and it repeated what the old law was, but it made a decision recently. We think when MPs are required to disclose their circumstances, it should be consistent with the test set by the High Court, not a lower test.
“Our concern yesterday was that Mr Turnbull’s resolution would create more problems and more questions than it would answer.
“The second of the two issues that we require a solution on is the timing. Mr Turnbull wants to resolve this matter at a later date than I do. And we’re not that far apart, to be fair.
“My view is this MP saga has now rolled on for months…we need to resolve and put forward all of our information, once and for all, by the 1st of December. Mr Turnbull wants a later date that would necessitate recalling parliament in December, and quite frankly, why should taxpayers pay a single extra dollar, because of the government’s problems.”
Asked whether he took a firm plan as to how Labor would resolve the citizenship crisis into his meeting with Mr Turnbull yesterday, Mr Shorten said he did.
“By all means,” he said.
“The High Court has set down the test for the application of the Constitution, the high jump bar. We think the Constitution and the High Court’s decision should be respected, and that’s the disclosure standard we believe in. Mr Turnbull, though, perhaps has a bit of memory loss here.
“He was happy enough back a month ago to demand I produce documents, I did. But then what’s happened is we’ve asked for the same standard of disclosure from the government, and thus far they haven’t. I think it needs to be resolved once and for all, one rule for everybody, not one rule for Labor and one rule for the LNP. One rule for all.
“The crisis in the Turnbull government can’t go on. We’ll keep being constructive, I’m sure we’ll resolve this, it’s a matter though of making sure we uphold the High Court’s test and we do it in a timely fashion.”
.@billshortenmp: We believe the the high court's decision should respected, that's the standard we believe in. MORE: https://t.co/oRuZSYKozD pic.twitter.com/mFB2kG1ksg
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 9, 2017
PM TV ‘tantrum sign of pressure’
Earlier, Mr Shorten hit back at Mr Turnbull’s criticisms of him on morning television, accusing the Prime Minister of having a “tantrum” because he was “under pressure”.
The Opposition Leader dismissed Mr Turnbull’s claim he was not prepared for their meeting in Melbourne yesterday on the citizenship crisis, saying the two leaders made “constructive progress” and it was “not all doom and gloom”
“I understand he had a bit of a tantrum on television this morning, I get he is under pressure,” Mr Shorten said in Bundaberg.
This morning Prime Minister accused the Opposition Leader of “not being fair dinkum” in his claims he wants to help solve the issue, saying their two-hour meeting was fruitless because Mr Shorten refused to make any detailed comments on the government’s proposal to force MPs to disclose their eligibility to the parliamentary register of members’ interests.
Mr Turnbull described himself as a “good man in a crisis” in a testy exchange with Today host Karl Stefanovic, who accused the Prime Minister of “waffling” when he was selling the government’s job creation. Mr Turnbull hit back at Stefanovic, saying he was being “patronising”.
Campaigning for Labor in the Queensland election, Mr Shorten said he was above “name calling’’.
“I will speak to the Australians who want to carry on beyond the name calling: we made progress. Labor has two outstanding issues. First is that Mr Turnbull reposed a test for MPs to disclose that it is not in my opinion High Court standard,’’ the Opposition Leader said.
“The second difference we have is one of timing. I think this crisis has gone on long enough and I think many Australians will agree with me. We want MPs to universally disclose all their circumstances by 1 December.
“Mr Turnbull says it will take longer than that and therefore we made need to reconvene Parliament. I don’t want to see taxpayer dollars wasted, one more dollar wasted sorting out his constitutional government crisis.”
Mr Turnbull accused Mr Shorten of being unprepared for their meeting and failing to propose any changes to the government’s citizenship proposals in an effort to “exploit” the chaos facing the parliament.
“Bill Shorten has got to pony up and be fair dinkum. We put out on Monday a proposed resolution which would set out all the disclosures that people had to make and the assurances they had to give,” Mr Turnbull told Stefanovic.
“We had a meeting yesterday, he came to the meeting, he did not propose one amendment. He had no detailed comments to make, no changes to make. I sat there with my iPad for two hours with him and I could not get him to specify what changes he wanted.
“He said he had to get more advice, he had to consult someone. I thought he was the Leader of the Opposition.
“He has to decide whether he is fair dinkum, whether he wants to resolve this problem or exploit it. He wants to decide whether he wants to be part of the solution or continue to be part of the problem.”
Mr Shorten yesterday said he did not strike an deal with Mr Turnbull because he wanted a shorter time frame for MPs to prove they are eligible while also demanding stricter disclosers.
During his appearance on Today, Mr Turnbull fired up after Stefanovic told the Prime Minister he was “waffling”.
“Karl, you have got a job. If you are looking for a job and you need a job and you have got one because of the strong economic leadership we provided, you may think it is waffling but if you have been unemployed and you are getting a chance to get ahead, you would say (Stefanovic is) being very patronising saying young people getting jobs is waffle,” Mr Turnbull said.
“Is it the real you to patronise people who are out of work and are getting a chance to get ahead?
“I don’t think it is. You are a fair dinkum Aussie. You have compassion. You know my job is to ensure more Australians have the chance to get ahead and realise their dreams and that’s what I’m doing.”
Mr Turnbull also labelled the suggestion he had lost control of his party has “nonsense”.
More MPs in citizenship saga
It comes as more MPs get caught up in the drama, with crossbench senator Jacqui Lambie and Liberal MP Jason Falinski forced to deny they were dual citizens.
Mr Shorten said this morning he was “satisfied” all of his MPs were eligible to sit in parliament, declaring Labor MPs Justine Keay and Susan Lamb would show their eligibility when the government members do, which he proposes to be December 1.
“I don’t think the nation can continue into the new year with this government crisis, the meeting was constructive, Malcolm explained his views as we know he has had a change of heart,” Mr Shorten told Seven Network.
“We didn’t get there yesterday but I am confident in the coming days we can get an agreed process.
He said the government’s plan to give MPs 21 days to provide proof they are eligible is too long, instead calling for full disclosure by December 1.
“I know parliament is due to resume at the end of November, five days after that everyone puts their case on the table, lets fix it, lets see what we are dealing with,” Mr Shorten said.
“Malcolm wanted a longer period of time than that, I think the patience of the Australian population is not wearing thing it is exhausted.”
Health Minister Greg Hunt has labelled Mr Shorten a “constitutional vandal” and a “complete fraud” for refusing to strike a deal with Malcolm Turnbull yesterday while at least two Labor MPs have a cloud surrounding their eligibility.
Mr Hunt said the government would proceed with its plans to implement eligibility disclosure but he would not say if the government planned to refer Labor MPs Justine Keay and Susan Lamb to the High Court.
“No matter what we propose in good faith, Bill Shorten will act as a constitutional vandal and a constitutional fraud,” Mr Hunt told ABC radio.
“He’s not interested in a resolution and this is indicative of who he is. Given the chance to actually achieve the very outcome which he claimed to seek, he’s walked away from it and he’s not interested.
“We now know that all along he’s been aware that at least two and possibly three of his own members held British citizenship at the time of the last election.
“That will be a matter that will be dealt with through the transparency process and the High Court if it comes to that, but all of this self-righteous cant and indignation that he put out – a complete fraud.”
Mr Hunt was asked why Mr Shorten was a fraud and a vandal for wanting the constitution to be upheld.
“Except for the fact that he doesn’t. They have hidden the fact that all along they knew they had at least two and possibly three members after giving everybody else lectures, members with significant issues,” he said.
“And secondly, here is a chance to resolve something, to ensure transparency and I can guarantee that no matter what we do he will find an excuse for not supporting that transparency and that’s exactly what’s happening at the moment.”
Mr Hunt refused to answer several questions on why the government would not refer Labor MPs with eligibility doubts to the High Court.
“I won’t on this program make prejudgements as to what the parliament will or won’t do,” he said.
“Once everybody has had the chance to set out the facts and make their case through a transparency process – and that’s what everybody should do – and all of our members are ready and willing to do that,” he said.
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