Newcastle
Herald, 18
May 2018:
The citizenship crisis
could claim more government MPs after Attorney-General Christian Porter said
they had to prove their possible dual citizenships were renounced.
Labor says this puts
Treasurer Scott Morrison, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, and 12 other
coalition MPs in danger.
Mr Morrison's maternal
grandfather was born in New Zealand, while Mr McCormack's was born in Greece in
1896.
The citizenship test in
the constitution has already forced more than a dozen MPs to quit because they
were citizens of foreign countries at the election.
"The requirement is
that you have to show that you've completed the renunciation process," Mr
Porter told reporters in Perth on Friday.
"You need to
evidence not merely the start of the renunciation process but its completion.
"So when people
haven't done that, no matter who they are, they need to do so."
Shadow attorney-general
Mark Dreyfus says it sets a new benchmark that goes too far.
"Mr Porter has
created a test that many of his own MPs fail. This is a very dangerous path for
the government to go down," Mr Dreyfus said.
He says 14 coalition MPs
have not shown evidence of completed renunciations, despite having parents or
grandparents born overseas.
Mr Porter had earlier
attacked Labor MP Emma Husar because she had not provided documented proof she
had renounced Polish citizenship, which she was entitled to through her
paternal grandparents.
Ms Husar says she wrote
to the Polish consulate to renounce any entitlement 16 days before her
nomination for federal parliament in 2016.
But Mr Porter says Ms Husar
had not put on the citizenship register any documented evidence her
renouncement was accepted.
Ms Husar told The
Australian on Friday she had nothing more to add.
"You have to have
something to renounce. You have to have something in order to give it back. I
am not a dual citizen," she said.
Under new rules set to
be introduced before upcoming by-elections, candidates have to give their
citizenship information to the Australian Electoral Commission.
It will then be made
public, but the AEC won't be given the power to adjudicate the eligibility of
candidates.
News.com.au, 18 May 2018:
NEW TEST FOR MP
CITIZENSHIP?
* If renunciations are
required, as the Attorney-General suggests, then there are eligibility doubts
over more federal MPs.
COALITION
* Scott Morrison:
Maternal grandfather born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided.
* Michael McCormack:
Maternal grandfather born in Greece. Greek Embassy does not have him registered
on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.
* Zed Seselja: Both
parents, all grandparents born overseas, no renunciation confirmation provided.
Croatian embassy says he is not a citizen.
* Julia Banks: Greek
father and four Greek grandparents. Greek Embassy does not have her registered
on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.
* Alex Hawke: Mother and
maternal grandparents were born in Greece. Greek embassy does not have him
registered on Greek municipal records, a requirement of being a citizen.
* Craig Kelly: South
African maternal grandfather, no renunciation confirmation provided.
* Nola Marino: No
documents proving she does not get Italian citizenship from her husband. Father
born in the USA, maternal grandfather born in Sweden, paternal grandparents
born in Italy.
* Llew O'Brien: Paternal
grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided.
* Ken O'Dowd: Paternal
grandmother born in the Netherlands, no renunciation confirmation provided.
* Tony Pasin: Italian
mother and father, grandparents on both sides, document says he is not eligible
to apply for Italian citizenship, but not whether he is a citizen.
* Angus Taylor: Maternal
grandparents born in NZ, no renunciation confirmation provided.
* Alan Tudge - Maternal
grandfather born in Canada, no renunciation confirmation provided.
* Tim Wilson: Maternal
grandfather born in India, no renunciation confirmation provided.
LABOR
* Emma Husar: Polish
grandparents, checked that she did not have citizenship but renounced it
anyway, no renunciation confirmation provided.
* Mark Dreyfus: Jewish
father and paternal grandparents fled Nazi Germany and stripped of their
citizenship. No renunciation confirmation provided.
* Michael Danby: Jewish
father and paternal grandparents were born in Germany. Father was stripped of
citizenship when he arrived in Australia. No renunciation confirmation
provided.
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