Justine Keay – Labor, Braddon

Issue: Renounced her British citizenship but not in time for the close of nominations on 9 June 2016. Keay did eventually get confirmation she had renounced but not until 11 July. Labor had previously said it had met the “reasonable steps” test with Keay because before the nomination she had made moves to renounce her citizenship. But, with the latest high court ruling on dual-citizenship, the “reasonable steps” test has become more complicated for political parties, with the justices warning that section 44 “does not disqualify only those who have not made reasonable efforts to conform to its requirements”. Given the black letter stance the high court has taken on the meaning of section 44, that has led to concerns that taking the steps to renounce citizenship of countries which have an ordered, reasonable process, but failing to meet the deadline, may no longer be enough.

Result if ineligible: byelection

Susan Lamb – Labor, Longman

Issue: Much like Keay, Lamb is another who is thought to have taken reasonable steps to renounce her citizenship but may not have met the deadline. Lamb has so far refused to say if the confirmation came through before 9 June 2016, only saying she took all the “reasonable steps” to renounce her British citizenship in May. Lamb is another who may now be in doubt because of the line taken by the high court in its October section 44 ruling. Labor and the Greens have said they have advice the reasonable steps rule set down in Sykes c Cleary remains unchanged by the most recent ruling but have declined to release it.

Result if ineligible: byelection

John Alexander – Liberal, Bennelong

Issue: Alexander’s father was born in the UK and needed to have renounced his British citizenship in the two years before 1949 (when Australian citizenship came into effect) and 1951 (when Alexander was born). If he didn’t, then Alexander received citizenship by descent and would be in much the same position as Malcolm Roberts, Fiona Nash and Stephen Parry. Alexander is attempting to confirm if his (now deceased) father took that step during that two-year window. So far, he has only been able to say that he “believes” his father would have renounced, as he was a “proud Australian”. That is being referred to as the “Malcolm Roberts defence”, a legacy of the ineligible One Nation senator proclaiming he was “choosing to believe” he was never British in the lead-up to the high court hearings.

Result if ineligible: byelection

Julia Banks – Liberal, Chisholm

Issue: Banks has been questioned before - in fact she was the first lower house MP to come under scrutiny because of her Greek heritage. Like the Italians, Greek citizenship is passed on “through the blood”, which, given the most recent high court decision about citizenship through descent being a conflict, is a problem. When first asked, Banks said she was not entitled to citizenship, with the Victorian branch of the Liberal party releasing a statement of a statement from the Greek embassy. “We have received confirmation from the Greek embassy that, according to records, Julia Banks is not registered as a Greek citizen and also is not entitled as a Greek citizen”. But that has confused people, given it has been long rumoured that Banks’ sibling holds a Greek passport, leading to the question: how can Banks’ brother be eligible but Banks not be? Greek citizenship has an extra layer of complexity – you are a citizen by descent through your ancestry but your birth had to be registered in the Greek municipality of your heritage. Those records are sealed under privacy laws.

Result if ineligible: byelection

Josh Frydenberg – Liberal, Kooyong

Issue: Malcolm Turnbull returned from an overseas visit to Israel to discover one of his best performers was the latest to fall under the citizenship microscope. Frydenberg is one of the more complicated cases – his mother, Erika Strausz, had been born in Budapest but, under the fascist, Germany-aligned second world war Hungarian government, had been made stateless by the time she arrived in Australia. Seeking to make amends for its past in 2011, Hungary sought to reinstate citizenship on those who had been stripped of it, or their descendants, for those who applied for it. Frydenberg said his mother did not but, given the complications of foreign citizenship law, Frydenberg has said he is checking. The Holocaust aspect to this case has led to an emotional response and Labor has not been including Frydenberg in their calls for referrals (although Banks and Alexander have been name checked) but that does not change the law. Checks are under way.

Result if ineligible: byelection

Ann Sudmalis – Liberal, Gilmore



Issue: Sudmalis is another who has been questioned previously, given her mother was born in the UK and, for all intents and purposes, Sudmalis did not check her eligibility under section 44 before nominating. Her mother, Valerie, did not renounce her British citizenship until 1989, having arrived in Australia in 1951. Sudmalis was born in 1955. After originally denying there was an issue, Sudmalis produced “confirmation of the non-acquisition of British citizenship”, the form the British authorities use when someone who is entitled to British citizenship has not registered or acquired it. Under British law, those born to UK mothers before 1983 do not automatically acquire citizenship through descent and instead have to register to become a citizen. She says she has not and has pointed to the document from the Home Office as her proof. If her father had been the British-born parent, Sudmalis would be in the same boat as Nash, Roberts, Parry and, possibly, Alexander. There is some argument section 44 also prohibits the entitlement of citizenship but this is yet to be tested by the high court.

Result if ineligible: byelection.

Pauline Hanson – One Nation, Queensland senator

Hanson has popped up again because of an old article from 2010 that discussed her desire to move to the UK. That article made reference to Hanson being eligible for citizenship because her parents had been born in the UK. But Hanson says while her grandparents (at least on one side of the family) had been born in the UK, her parents were both born in Australia. Citizenship through descent no longer confers that far – if your parents are British, they can pass it on to you but you can’t pass it on to your children. They can apply for the right to abode but that requires an active step Hanson says she didn’t take. Hanson is understood to be clarifying her status with the British authorities.

Result if ineligible: Senate recount, which would lead to Hanson’s sister, who would also be ineligible under the same [hypothetical] decision, leading to then Family First candidate Rod McGarvie as the next in line.