Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this week the Senate got involved in the serious issue of whether two senators were able to claim their seats in this chamber after being elected at the 2 July poll. It was decided that the cases of Bob Day and Rod Culleton be referred to the High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns but for different reasons. In the case of Bob Day, who resigned recently, it will be a case of who replaces him—a Family First representative, or another party's candidate if the court decides that a recount is in order.

In that debate, I flagged another issue about election eligibility, and that was the issue of dual citizenship. I foreshadowed to the Senate earlier this week that I would give notice of a motion calling for a review of the eligibility of all senators and members based on their citizenship at the time they were elected this year and at previous elections. Section 44 of our Constitution says—in far more formal language than this—that to be eligible to sit in the Senate or the House of Representatives you must not owe allegiance to another country. If you do hold dual citizenship then before the election you must have revoked the other one, you must have renounced your citizenship granted to you by another country. It is clearly stated in the Constitution that failure to renounce allegiance to another country, to another power, makes a person ineligible to hold office. Section 44(i) states that any person who is under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the right or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power, cannot sit in our parliament.

The issue of dual citizenship is not a new one. It has prompted the disqualification and the eviction from this house in the past, including former One Nation Senator Heather Hill, Nuclear Disarmament Party Senator Robert Wood and Liberal MP Jackie Kelly. I did realise that even in raising this issue I risked reigniting the so-called Australian birther movement surrounding the eligibility of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and when he officially renounced his British citizenship. Well, sobeit, but I was targeting no specific person. Claiming that somebody was born somewhere other than where they claim to have been born can do wonders for your political career. A billionaire by the name of Donald J Trump started the birther movement in the United States eight years ago, insisting that Barack Obama was occupying the White House illegally because he was supposedly born in Kenya and not the state of Hawaii as was shown on his birth certificate. Donald Trump did not withdraw that slur until a couple of months ago, at the end of the election campaign. Last night, he was elected President of the United States. So go figure.

Although my notice of motion to make changes to the Electoral Act was aimed at all members of the parliament, current and future, the member for Warringah obviously was drawn into it, but he could have killed that dual citizenship issue in his case and headed off what was a 30,000- or 40,000-strong petition by just pulling his renunciation document out of his bottom drawer, because that is where I store my revocation certificate from New Zealand. But, instead, when he was Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's office had the document sealed with a confidentiality stamp. They issued a statement saying only that the Prime Minister is an Australian citizen and does not hold citizenship of any other country—full stop. It is surprises me that no dual citizen is required to produce that cancellation proof before nominations close. One of the Justice Party candidates renounced both their British and Swiss citizenships before that deadline. All candidates should be aware of the restrictions on eligibility. Mid campaign, one of our own candidates had to withdraw because it was discovered that that candidate was near the end but not fully discharged from bankruptcy. So the candidate withdrew.

I decided to tell the Senate tonight that I have started a private senator's bill to amend the Australian Electoral Act. I want to make it a requirement that candidates must provide evidence to the Australian Electoral Commission that they are a citizen of Australia and a citizen of Australia only, that they are not a dual citizen and do not owe their allegiance to any other country. If they cannot provide that evidence, I think they should be ineligible to stand for federal parliament, in line with section 44 of the Constitution. It should be a no-brainer, and I am surprised that it was not recorded and included in the Electoral Act many decades ago.