MALCOLM Turnbull says parliament’s citizenship mess will finally be sorted out, despite the saga certain to carry into the new year.

Prime Minister Turnbull and the Greens both stand to benefit from the worsening citizenship fiasco if eight more MPs with questions over their eligibility are referred to the High Court.

Buoyed by the passing of same-sex marriage legislation, Mr Turnbull denied the citizenship status of any of his Liberal party colleagues were under question.

He also took aim at what he said was Labor Party inaction over the parliamentary crisis and said he was confident it would be resolved soon.

“There is nobody on my side of the house that is under a cloud,” Mr Turnbull told Channel 7’s Sunrise.

Barnaby Joyce referred himself and went to the court, went to a by-election and it now is back. John Alexander concluded that he couldn’t satisfy himself from what he understood, so he’s going to by-election.

“So what has the Labor Party done. They have two citizens that don’t know (their status) and they have two British citizens at the time they were nominated.

“Katy Gallagher the senator was referred to the High Court but they don’t have anybody in the house referring themselves.”

The embattled Prime Minister has a strong likelihood of picking up three seats out of a potential Super Saturday of by-elections early next year.

It will strengthen Mr Turnbull’s precarious position in the lower house, where he holds a one-seat majority only if Liberal MP John Alexander is re-elected at the Bennelong by-election on December 16.

Labor has named eight more federal politicians that it wants to send to the High Court in a bid to end the citizenship circus.

That includes three of its own — Josh Wilson, Susan Lamb and Justine Keay — along with crossbencher Rebekha Sharkie and Liberal MPs Nola Marino, Julia Banks, Jason Falinski and Alex Hawke.

Labor MP David Feeney was sent to the High Court on Wednesday after being unable to find documents to prove he renounced British citizenship.

That will trigger at least one by-election if he is ruled ineligible to sit in Parliament.

Labor senator Katy Gallagher has also been referred to the High Court but, as a senator, she will simply lose her seat if found ineligible rather than being forced to contest a by-election.

“The reality is that without John Alexander there our votes and the independents and Labor Party votes are a tie.

“It will get sorted out. The Katy Gallagher case will go to the High Court they are virtually identical to the Labor people in house, if she wins then they will be OK. If she loses then

they will have to resign.

“I think the issue will be resolved.”

WHY THE PM STANDS TO GAIN

If the eight MPs are sent to the High Court along with Gallagher and Feeney, both the Liberal Party and the Greens could benefit from a series of by-elections triggered by any MPs being ruled ineligible.

The Greens could potentially claim Mr Feeney’s Victorian electorate of Batman.



Feeney received fewer first preference votes than Greens candidate Alex Bhathal at the 2016 election but claimed a narrow victory of just 1853 votes thanks to preferences.

The Liberal party could potentially gain from by-elections in the Tasmanian seat of Braddon, the South Australian seat of Mayo, and the Queensland seat of Longman which would strengthen Mr Turnbull’s precarious one-seat majority in the House of Representatives.

Braddon is traditionally considered a marginal Liberal seat.

Ms Keay scraped through to victory in 2016 by 2846 votes thanks to preferences but actually received fewer first preference votes than the Liberal candidate.

Longman and Mayo, usually considered very safe Liberal seats, are even better chances for the Liberals.

Ms Lamb only claimed victory in 2016 against Liberal Wyatt Roy by just 1.6 per cent of the votes or 1390 votes after preferences.

NXT MP Rebekha Sharkie claimed a surprise win in Mayo — a very safe Liberal seat by a margin of 12.5 per cent — against Liberal MP Jamie Briggs, who had been embroiled in a scandal over an incident in Hong Kong involving a female public servant.

Fremantle, considered a marginal Labor seat at 5.4 per cent, would likely remain with Labor but the Greens or Liberals have a shot if they punt in a star candidate.

Labor believes its MPs will not be ruled ineligible as the party has legal advice they will be fine given they took “all reasonable steps” necessary to renounce their citizenship.

The government is likely to refer the Labor MPs regardless next year when it has the numbers, triggering a series of by-elections in March or April.

LIBERAL MPS IN DOUBT

Labor has demanded Liberal MPs Jason Falinski, Nola Marino, Alex Hawke and Julia Banks provide further documents to clarify their citizenship status.

If they cannot, the party believes they should also be sent to the High Court.

By-elections in three of their seats — Mackellar, Forrest and Mitchell — would not cause an upset for the Turnbull Government.

All three are safe Liberal seats with margins of 15.74 per cent, 12.56 per cent and 17.82 per cent respectively.

But Labor could have a chance to pick up a seat in Ms Banks’ electorate of Chisholm, which is held by a narrow margin of 1.24 per cent.

SHOWDOWN

Labor frontbencher Tony Burke has warned the government not to use its numbers to refer Labor MPs to the High Court.

He said Ms Keay and Ms Lamb could not have taken any further steps to renounce their citizenship.

“We can’t have a situation where the onus ... is on the candidate to complete all their reasonable steps but the decision about whether or not they’re eligible is driven by a junior public servant in Great Britain,” he told ABC radio this week.

Attorney-General George Brandis dismissed that argument as “utter rubbish”, accusing Labor of throwing up a smokescreen around its MPs.

He called on Opposition leader Bill Shorten to “do the right thing” and refer his MPs.

“It doesn’t have to be a showdown if Mr Shorten does the right thing,” Senator Brandis said.

Ms Keay, whose father was born in the UK, received confirmation she had renounced her citizenship on July 8, 2016, six days after the 2016 federal election.

Ms Lamb, whose father was born in Scotland, filled out her renunciation form on May 24, 2016.

However, on August 10, 2016, the British bureaucracy told her: “We cannot be satisfied from the documents available that you hold British citizenship. The application has therefore been refused.”

Mr Wilson, who was born in London, completed his renunciation form on May 12, 2016.

However, the date of the UK Home Office letter confirming renunciation was June 24, well after the close of nominations for the 2016 election.