At a shock press conference on Tuesday night, standing alongside attorney-general George Brandis, the Queensland Liberal National senator said he'd be standing down from Cabinet until the matter was sorted out.

"On the basis of the advice the government has obtained, and that George outlined, it is not my intention to resign from the Senate," Canavan said. "However, given the uncertainty around this matter, I will stand aside until the matter is finally resolved, and resign as a minister for resources and Northern Australia."

Canavan told the press conference his mother had applied for his Italian citizenship in 2006, when Canavan was 25.

"While I knew that my mother had become an Italian citizen, I had no knowledge that I, myself, had become an Italian citizen – nor had I requested to become an Italian citizen," he said.



"Following the reporting of [Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters] last week, my mother raised with me the possibility that I was, in fact, an Italian citizen on Tuesday evening. I have, since then, taken steps to check my citizenship status with the Italian authorities, and that has confirmed that I was registered as an Italian citizen in January 2007."