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| By-election fears: Liberals checking if Victorian MP is Greek citizen by descent | By-election fears: Liberals checking if Victorian MP is Greek citizen by descent |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Questions have been raised about whether the Victorian Liberal MP Julia Banks may have had Greek citizenship conferred on her – a development which could ultimately trigger a by-election in the seat of Chisholm. | Questions have been raised about whether the Victorian Liberal MP Julia Banks may have had Greek citizenship conferred on her – a development which could ultimately trigger a by-election in the seat of Chisholm. |
| Liberal sources have told Guardian Australia the state party organisation in Victoria is agitated about Banks potentially having a dual citizenship, and checks are being made on her status. | Liberal sources have told Guardian Australia the state party organisation in Victoria is agitated about Banks potentially having a dual citizenship, and checks are being made on her status. |
| Speaking to Guardian Australia on Friday from London, the Victorian Liberal MP said she was born in Australia, her parents were Australian citizens at the time of her birth and she had never taken up Greek citizenship. | Speaking to Guardian Australia on Friday from London, the Victorian Liberal MP said she was born in Australia, her parents were Australian citizens at the time of her birth and she had never taken up Greek citizenship. |
| Those facts notwithstanding, party sources have confirmed that checks are underway to ensure she has not acquired Greek citizenship by descent. | Those facts notwithstanding, party sources have confirmed that checks are underway to ensure she has not acquired Greek citizenship by descent. |
| The question mark over Banks follows a tumultuous week where the resources minister, Matt Canavan, stepped down from Cabinet because he discovered he was a dual citizen of Italy, and serious questions remain about the status of the One Nation senator, Malcolm Roberts. | The question mark over Banks follows a tumultuous week where the resources minister, Matt Canavan, stepped down from Cabinet because he discovered he was a dual citizen of Italy, and serious questions remain about the status of the One Nation senator, Malcolm Roberts. |
| The government is already facing a high court proceeding over one of its lower house MPs, David Gillespie, with concerns he may have an indirect financial interest in the Commonwealth, which, like dual citizenship, is grounds for disqualification under section 44 of the constitution. | The government is already facing a high court proceeding over one of its lower house MPs, David Gillespie, with concerns he may have an indirect financial interest in the Commonwealth, which, like dual citizenship, is grounds for disqualification under section 44 of the constitution. |
| There will be a directions hearing on the Gillespie case in August, with substantive hearings expected before the end of the year. | There will be a directions hearing on the Gillespie case in August, with substantive hearings expected before the end of the year. |
| The Turnbull government holds a majority in the lower house of just one seat. | The Turnbull government holds a majority in the lower house of just one seat. |
| Banks won her seat of Chisholm against the political tide from Labor at the last federal election, and Liberals fear the government would not hold the seat at a by-election in the current political climate. | Banks won her seat of Chisholm against the political tide from Labor at the last federal election, and Liberals fear the government would not hold the seat at a by-election in the current political climate. |
| Once parliament resumes in August after the winter break, the Senate will refer the cases of Canavan and the two Green senators, Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters, who resigned after discovering they held dual citizenships, to the high court for deliberation. | Once parliament resumes in August after the winter break, the Senate will refer the cases of Canavan and the two Green senators, Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters, who resigned after discovering they held dual citizenships, to the high court for deliberation. |
| If no one challenges Roberts’s eligibility in the meantime, it is possible that either the government, or Labor, the Greens and some cross benchers, could also move to refer the One Nation senator to the high court as well. | If no one challenges Roberts’s eligibility in the meantime, it is possible that either the government, or Labor, the Greens and some cross benchers, could also move to refer the One Nation senator to the high court as well. |
| Government sources have suggested it is unlikely they would join Roberts to the other cases, given it would be provocative. Labor is yet to determine its position on that as a course of action. | Government sources have suggested it is unlikely they would join Roberts to the other cases, given it would be provocative. Labor is yet to determine its position on that as a course of action. |
| The Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he would support referring Roberts to the high court. “We are going to refer Scott and Larissa, and One Nation should also do the decent thing and refer Malcolm Roberts”. | |
| He said in the event One Nation failed to do the decent thing, the Greens would happily join Labor and any interested crossbenchers in sending Roberts case to the court. | |
| NXT leader Nick Xenophon told Guardian Australia on Friday he was also open to referring Roberts to the high court in the event constitutional law experts thought there were valid questions for him to answer. | |
| Xenophon said such a referral should not happen “carelessly” but it should certainly happen if there was any prospect of a constitutional breach. | Xenophon said such a referral should not happen “carelessly” but it should certainly happen if there was any prospect of a constitutional breach. |
| Roberts has changed his story about dual citizenship on a couple of occasions, but he told Sky News on Thursday he had written to British officials on 1 May last year asking if he was a UK citizen. | Roberts has changed his story about dual citizenship on a couple of occasions, but he told Sky News on Thursday he had written to British officials on 1 May last year asking if he was a UK citizen. |
| After not getting a reply, he wrote again on 6 June, just before Senate nominations closed, saying if he had British citizenship, he fully renounced it. “I’ve taken all steps that I reasonably believe necessary,” Roberts told Sky News. | After not getting a reply, he wrote again on 6 June, just before Senate nominations closed, saying if he had British citizenship, he fully renounced it. “I’ve taken all steps that I reasonably believe necessary,” Roberts told Sky News. |
| But it has emerged the British high commission did not confirm the renunciation until December – six months after he nominated as a Senate candidate. | But it has emerged the British high commission did not confirm the renunciation until December – six months after he nominated as a Senate candidate. |