PM risks snap by-election as John Alexander considers resignation

Liberal MP whose citizenship doubt risks the Coalition’s grip on power says he’s at the mercy of UK authorities.

MP John Alexander, Member for Bennelong, arriving at his office.

The government is at risk of an imminent blow to its control of the parliament as Liberal backbencher John Alexander considers whether to resign and face a snap by-election on December 16.

The Australian understands Mr Alexander, who holds Bennelong in Sydney’s north by a 9.8 per cent margin, is weighing up the option as he examines his potential status as a British citizen because his father was born in the United Kingdom.

Liberals said the decision to go to an immediate by-election would show voters that the former tennis champion was acting as swiftly as possible after asking the UK Home Office to check on his citizenship status.

However, there is also a strong argument within the government that Mr Alexander should put himself forward when parliament resumes on November 27 and be referred to the High Court along with other MPs, including some Labor MPs, to be considered as a group.

Mr Alexander said this afternoon he had no news yet from London on the status of his possible dual British citizenship.

He said he did not know why it was taking so long to gain clarification, compared with some other MPs’ cases, but suggested one factor could be the age and accessibility of records related to his British-born father.

“My father, if he was still alive, would be 110. He died 30 years ago,” Mr Alexander said.

The Liberal MP attracted a crowd to a charity event at an Eastwood park in his electorate this afternoon, and considerable media attention, as doubt about his citizenship eligibility risks the Turnbull government’s slim majority.

Mr Alexander was billed at the event to have his head shaved as part of fundraising for the Leukaemia Foundation, but opted instead for a short haircut and no shave. At one point before a decision to call off the more radical head shave, Mr Alexander said: “I won’t have any grey hair after this.”

At worst for the Coalition, constitutional ineligibility for Mr Alexander could force the Prime Minister to call an early election as a political solution to the crisis besetting his government.

Mr Alexander said: “When I find out what I find out, I will make a full statement - I will not make any other statement,” he said.

The former top Australian tennis player holds the seat held by John Howard throughout his political career that was lost to Labor’s Maxine McKew in the 2007 federal election won by the ALP with Kevin Rudd as party leader.

Mr Alexander won back the seat for the Liberals in 2010, and it remains a marginal one although election commentators believe it would be more likely to stay in Liberal hands in a by-election or general election. The electorate now has a large Chinese community population, with many local businesses in the heart of Eastwood.

One Liberal insider at the Eastwood event said he thought it possible, even likely, that a result would be known on Mr Alexander’s citizenship status over the weekend as the time lag due to London’s time zone meant that British government offices would open for Friday

business in the early hours of Saturday, Australian time.

MP John Alexander, Member for Bennelong, arriving at his office.

The question of Mr Alexander’s eligibility is crucial to the government’s control of the parliament in the final sitting fortnight of the year, when the House of Representatives is meant to vote on same-sex marriage but could be thrown off course by Labor tactics to challenge the government’s authority.

The government held 76 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives after the last election but has lost one seat while Barnaby Joyce fights a December 2 by-election in his electorate of New England after being disqualified by the High Court.

Without Mr Alexander, the government would only have 74 seats with one of its MPs, Speaker Tony Smith, only exercising his vote in rare circumstances. This would give the government 73 votes on the floor of the chamber. Labor has 69 seats and would seek to win over the five crossbenchers to defeat the government.

Two crossbenchers, Cathy McGowan and Rebekha Sharkie, have said they would vote with the government on confidence and supply, making it much more difficult for Bill Shorten to pass a no-confidence motion that would trigger an election.

However, the government would be exposed to defeat on other matters including Labor motions to amend penalty rate laws or set up a banking royal commission.

The government believes it is in a strong position to hold Bennelong despite trailing Labor in the national opinion polls for more than a year, pointing to the fact that Mr Alexander won the seat with 59.7 per cent of the vote after preferences at the last election.

While the Coalition’s support in NSW has fallen from 49.9 per cent at the last election to 48 per cent in the latest Newspoll quarterly survey, this is a much smaller loss than seen in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

A key factor in Mr Alexander’s decision is the example set by former Tasmanian Liberal Senator Stephen Parry, who kept his status as a dual citizen secret for weeks until suddenly resigning last week.

A quick decision is necessary if Mr Alexander is to face voters in his Sydney electorate of Bennelong before Christmas. Election rules dictate that at least 33 days must elapse between the issue of the writs for the by-election and the polling day.

December 16 is the last realistic Saturday for a by-election this year, given the following Saturday is two days before Christmas.

This would mean the last day for issuing the writs for the by-election would be Monday, November 13.

Malcolm Turnbull said this morning that MPs should resign if their situation was clear.

“If you are satisfied that you are not constitutionally eligible to sit in the parliament then you should not be sitting there, that’s the fundamental principle,” the Prime Minister told reporters in Vietnam, where he is attending the APEC summit.

“I recognise there are cases that will be line ball decisions or questions of doubt where legal opinions will differ, and those are the cases that should be referred to the High Court.

“After all, we referred Barnaby Joyce. Barnaby referred himself to the High Court. His legal advice, our legal advice, was that he was not disqualified. The High Court took a different view. That’s often how it is in the law.

“But it’s very important that the High Court has the opportunity to determine these cases. It’s the High Court and only the High Court that can determine whether somebody is qualified to sit in the parliament.”

Asked if he had been updated on Mr Alexander’s situation, Mr Turnbull said he had not and that the MP was undertaking further inquiries.

Asked if he had spoken to Governor-General Peter Cosgrove to give an assurance he could provide stable government in parliament, Mr Turnbull said he “never, ever” commented on discussions with the Governor-General.