David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, may I take this opportunity to formally congratulate you on your election to President. My question is to the Attorney-General. Can the Attorney-General outline the steps the government is taking to ensure the current members of parliament are not dual citizens?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I can. Following the decision of the cabinet last week, the government has this morning, as you know, introduced a resolution into the chamber which we hope will be accepted by other honourable senators. The government is firmly of the view, as the Prime Minister has repeatedly said, that it is a matter for each individual member and senator to assess their own eligibility and, if they cannot satisfy themselves that they are eligible, to resign, just as, most recently, the former member for Bennelong, Mr John Alexander, did.

To facilitate members' and senators' due diligence, the government has moved a motion today to require senators to provide a declaration to the Registrar of Senators' Interests. The declaration requires senators to set out key information regarding their personal circumstances, including their birth and the circumstances of their parents and grandparents. Senators will appreciate that making a declaration to the Registrar of Senators' Interests is a serious matter and, while we understand that honourable senators and members can only declare to the best of their knowledge and belief, nevertheless making false or misleading statements on such a declaration constitutes a serious contempt. I am sure—at least I am hopeful—that senators will treat this process with the respect it deserves. Provision of this information will allow each house of parliament to determine as appropriate whether a parliamentarian should be referred to the High Court, recognising that in the end only the High Court can authoritatively determine the eligibility of parliamentarians. But let me stress, because it can't be said often enough, that the burden lies upon the individual member or senator who becomes aware of circumstances disqualifying them under section 44 to initiate their resignation.

Scott Ryan (President, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A supplementary question, Senator Bushby.

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I do have a supplementary. What course of action should senators and members take to certify that they are eligible to sit as a member of parliament?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members and senators have been given an abundantly clear series of questions in the event that the Senate adopts the government's resolution. As I said before, it needs to be taken very seriously. Nevertheless, if there are already circumstances known to any senator or known to any member of the House of Representatives that demonstrate that they were a dual citizen at the time of the 2016 election and the election of the 45th Parliament, they do not need to await the filing of the particulars with the register of members' or senators' interests. As a matter of personal integrity, they ought to come forward, as Mr Joyce did, as Senator Nash did and as Mr Alexander did, and they ought to proactively take those steps as my colleagues have done.

Scott Ryan (President, Special Minister of State) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Bushby, a further supplementary question?

David Bushby (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the Attorney-General aware of any senators or members of the House of Representatives who appear to be ineligible? What steps are open to the parliament to deal with any such cases?

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, I am. In my contribution to the debate earlier during the day I did refer to the member for Braddon and the member for Longman, who have been the subject of an advice by the former Commonwealth Solicitor-General, Dr David Bennett QC. The former Commonwealth Solicitor-General arrived at the conclusion that, on the basis of their own public admissions, the member for Braddon and the member for Longman were dual citizens at the time of the 2016 election. In fact, those two members—the member for Braddon and the member for Longman—delayed by almost a year after they were preselected as the Labor Party candidate for those seats before they even initiated the process of renouncing their UK citizenship.