Richard Di Natale (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Mr President, let me begin by saying that, as I said during your recent election, Senator Parry was a very good President. He acted impartially. He was always prepared to take questions and issues that were raised from the crossbench, from the opposition and from his own party with an extremely impartial hand. But I think Senator Parry made a grave mistake when it came to his citizenship and the way in which he acted when he became aware—at least by mid-August—that he may have been a dual citizen. We know this from the statements that his colleague Senator Fifield has made. We know that advice was provided by party colleagues—we don't know who they were—to Senator Parry that he should not reveal the details or the circumstances of his situation, and that was advice that he heeded. Clearly, Senator Parry had some agency in this. He could have ignored that advice, recognising that to follow it wouldn't be upholding the integrity of this parliament, but he chose to accept that advice, and here we have shared responsibility.

I find it remarkable that we could have a situation where the former President was sitting in the chair when referral after referral after referral was being made to the High Court. In some circumstances, those referrals mirrored his own circumstances, yet Senator Parry chose not to disclose them until very shortly after the High Court ruling. The inescapable conclusion is that he was hoping that the High Court ruling would find in favour of Senator Nash and others and that his situation would no longer be a problem for him. But that's not the standard we should accept from the Presiding Officer of the Senate. The standard has to be that when an individual is aware of those circumstances and they are something that can be verified very quickly then as soon as that verification of dual citizenship is made it should be disclosed to the parliament.

I've said this already. Senator Waters first called me on a Friday to say she was concerned that, by virtue of her birth in Canada and the law changing shortly afterwards, she may in fact be a dual citizen. We contacted our legal team, we got legal advice over a weekend and we had confirmation by the high commission, I believe, on the Monday. Within a space of four days we had that confirmed and Larissa Waters tendered her resignation. That's the process as it should work when you're relying on the integrity of individuals. That's exactly what should happen. These aren't difficult cases. We know that assessing someone's citizenship is something that can be verified by a number of facts, by a legal review and by confirmation from the relevant high commission. You can have that done in a matter of days, and we demonstrated that that's exactly what could happen. Instead, Senator Parry decided to sit on his information after receiving advice from senior ministers in the cabinet. He could have done a number of things. Even if he didn't choose to resign, which would have been the honourable course, he could have done what Senator Canavan did and step down from his position as a Presiding Officer. Instead, he remained silent, based on the advice of his colleagues.

Senator Fifield has admitted that Stephen Parry told him about doubts over his eligibility weeks ago. We do know from a number of reports that he was advised to keep quiet until the High Court ruling. Let's remember that the Presiding Officer of the Senate is somebody who plays a very important role in upholding the integrity of this parliament. Let's also remember that when we're talking about ministers who are responsible for critical decisions and for financial decisions, as we know Senator Fifield is and as we know many others who sit in the cabinet are, we expect a level of integrity and decency when these issues are raised. We do need to have trust with our elected representatives. Right now, trust in politics is at an all-time low. Who could blame people for not trusting that people in this place are acting in their very narrow self-interest, rather than in their party's interest and rather than in the nation's interest?

It appears, for all intents and purposes, that there has been a cover-up here. There are questions about who else knew. Who else did Senator Parry confide in? Who else was told about the circumstances around his dual citizenship? Was anyone within the Prime Minister's office aware of this situation? We do need to ensure that we get to the bottom of this. We do need to ensure that this issue is dealt with in a timely manner, because the stakes are extremely high. We currently don't know whether the government has the numbers on the floor of the lower house of parliament to form a majority. We don't know whether all ministers in this place are making decisions that are constitutionally valid. We don't know whether those decisions will be challenged in court. We already know that there's a possibility that that may happen with some of the decisions that Barnaby Joyce has made.

This is proving to be a huge distraction from the business that we're paid to do, which is to govern in the interests of people. This has consumed the parliament. It is absolutely critical that we reach a speedy resolution and it is absolutely critical that we get to the bottom of what happened in terms of ensuring that ministers of the Crown acted with integrity when they became aware of their circumstances. Obviously the Greens have been supporting a thorough, comprehensive independent audit. I note that the crossbench have also supported those calls. I know Senator Hinch has been a strong and vocal supporter of a thorough, independent audit so we can get on with the business of governing. As I said, this is a huge distraction. It is something the Australian community are sick to the back teeth of; they just want to see it fixed.

None of this is to say that we think section 44, in this aspect relating to foreign or dual citizenship, has any place in modern multicultural Australia. In fact, it is the Greens' view that section 44, when it relates to dual citizens, is a relic of the past. It excludes many people from participating in their democracy when you consider that half of the Australian community either are born overseas or have a parent born overseas. We know that this is a law, or a part of our Constitution, that needs to be addressed. That's why we do support a referendum to ultimately deal with it, or at least interim steps to ensure that this never happens again.

Until that happens, it is our responsibility to uphold the founding document. Everything that flows from this place is based on our Constitution. It is our responsibility to uphold it, to ensure that we recognise that as democrats, whether we are on the progressive side of politics or on the conservative side of politics, if we respect democracy then it is our duty to uphold the Constitution—and the Constitution on this matter is very, very clear. That's why, when it comes to presiding officers—who should be exemplars of integrity, of accountability and of transparency—we have been so disappointed not just with the actions of a decent person who made a bad mistake in Senator Parry but also with the actions of ministers of this government who were aware of this information and advised the then President to keep his head down and to be quiet.

We will be pursuing this issue. We intend to continue to ensure that we get to the bottom of what happened. This is a very serious matter. It goes to the integrity of the government, and we will ensure that the truth, as it relates to this specific issue, is ultimately revealed and we will make sure that we put this crisis behind us by pursuing action for a thorough and independent review of all of the information that determines whether somebody may or may not be a dual citizen, that those individuals are dealt with swiftly through the High Court and that we get on with the business of doing what people pay us to do—that is, to start governing in the national interest.