Turnbull seeks more scalps as Labor refers ‘duals’ to court

Malcolm Turnbull is ramping up pressure on Bill Shorten over the citizenship scandal after Labor staged a stunning backdown.

Labor senator Katy Gallagher has been referred to the High Court over her citizenship status. Picture: Gary Ramage

Malcolm Turnbull is ramping up pressure on Bill Shorten over the citizenship scandal after Labor staged a stunning backdown to refer two of its senior MPs to the High Court, fuelling demands for three more Labor backbenchers to face the same fate today.

The Prime Minister was battling to secure the numbers last night to refer the three Labor MPs to the court over their British citizenship, setting up a dramatic clash as parliament seeks to rule on the dispute after a final vote on same-sex marriage today.

In an extraordinary finish to the parliamentary year, Labor surrendered after insisting for months that none of its MPs had questions to answer over their citizenship, referring frontbencher Katy Gallagher and former frontbencher David Feeney to the court. Senator Gallagher’s referral sets up a new test case over whether an MP has taken reasonable steps to renounce foreign citizenship if the process is not concluded when he or she nominates to be an election candidate.

Mr Turnbull is asking some of the five crossbenchers in the lower house to back the government today to refer Labor’s Justine Keay, Susan Lamb and Josh Wilson to the court because they face similar doubts over whether they renounced foreign citizenship to qualify for parliament.

In a sign of Labor division over the long-running scandal, legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus named Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg as a target just weeks after deputy leader Tanya Plibersek and infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese warned against pursuing MPs whose families had fled the Holocaust.

The Labor tactics sparked a debate over whether Mr Dreyfus had gone too far and whether Mr Frydenberg should be targeted because of his “stateless” mother.

Labor employment services spokesman Ed Husic warned against the “feral” nature of the fight, while Victorian Labor ­backbencher Michael Danby said “the Dreyfus approach” ignored the ethical and historical issues that surrounded the matter.

The government accused Labor of drafting a “hit list” including Mr Frydenberg to distract attention from questions over its own MPs in the lower house, ­arguing they should be referred because they were in the same situation as Senator Gallagher.

The citizenship scandal has turned against Labor in recent days with confirmation of Senator Gallagher’s plight and the revelations that Mr Feeney did not have the paperwork to prove he had ­renounced foreign citizenship.

Mr Feeney stumbled in last year’s election campaign when he failed to disclose a $2.3 million property and could not explain whether it was ­negatively geared at a time when the tax rules were a key issue in the campaign.

The Australian understands Mr Feeney did not receive an ­endorsement from Mr Shorten or others yesterday to confirm he would be the candidate if there is a by-election for his Melbourne seat of Batman, where the Greens almost toppled him last year.

The government is exploiting the Labor divisions after the backdowns on Mr Feeney and Senator Gallagher, which came after Mr Shorten repeatedly claimed all his MPs were safe from challenge.

Mr Turnbull accused Mr Shorten of staging “twists and turns” to avoid fair scrutiny of Labor MPs at a time when the government had voted to refer three of its own ministers to the High Court. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, who was sworn in to parliament and the ministry yesterday after winning his by-election last Saturday, said he was “disgusted” by Mr Shorten’s ­refusal to accept Labor MPs should face the court.

The key test today will be the government’s ability to secure any support from the crossbench to refer three more Labor MPs, given the Coalition is short of numbers while former MP John Alexander fights a by-election in Bennelong. The government has 74 votes on the floor of the House of Representatives following the return of Mr Joyce, but Labor could block a referral by combining its 69 votes with all five of the crossbenchers.

Manager of opposition business in the House, Tony Burke, came close to securing a majority yesterday to refer nine MPs to the High Court by calling for a bipartisan agreement. Mr Burke argued Liberals Jason Falinski, Nola Marino, Julia Banks and Alex Hawke should be referred along with Mr Feeney, Ms Keay, Ms Lamb and Mr Wilson, and NXT’s Rebekha Sharkie. Labor and all five crossbenchers voted together but the vote was tied 73-73 against the government. Speaker Tony Smith used his casting vote to reject the motion, in line with his previous guidance and standing orders.

In a political debate full of contradictions, Labor said Ms Banks should be referred because of her Greek heritage but insisted one of its own MPs, Steve Georganas, should not face the same test over his Greek background.

Ms Banks has produced a letter from the Greek embassy stating she is not a registered member in the municipal records required for citizenship. Mr Hawke has produced a letter from the same ­embassy saying he cannot be considered a Green citizen. Mr Georganas disclosed his letter of renunciation but no official document from the Greek government.

Ms Marino produced a letter from the Italian consulate saying she “is not nor has ever been an Italian citizen” but Labor insisted she had questions to answer. Mr Turnbull dismissed this argument, noting Ms Plibersek had a similar letter from the Slovenian embassy and should therefore face the High Court if Labor believed such a letter was inadequate.