BILL Shorten has thrown his support behind a citizenship audit of federal parliament.

The Labor leader said in a statement today, “Labor is prepared to support a process such as universal disclosure to the parliament to deal with this issue effectively”.

“The government has no plan to resolve the citizenship crisis. Turnbull has been incapable of providing any leadership to fix this mess,” Mr Shorten continued.

“Labor has the strictest vetting processes; we’ve got nothing to fear from greater transparency and disclosure. We welcome it.

“Whatever the ultimate process is, it must adhere to clear principles. It must be accountable to the people through the parliament. It must have bipartisan agreement prior to implementation. It must be sufficiently robust to give all Australians confidence in the process.”

Let's unpack what Labor has done

(A) PM refuses looks weak

(B) Agrees could lose MPs/government

(C) even if Labor loses MPs get election https://t.co/3hJDJVDUpC — Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) November 3, 2017

TURNBULL DECRIES ‘WITCH HUNT’

Earlier Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejected calls for a citizenship audit of MPs, saying only the High Court has the power to determine who is eligible for parliament.

The Prime Minister said there was no place in Australia for “witch hunts”, taking aim at critics of Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg over whether he held Hungarian citizenship through his mother.

Speaking at press conference in Perth, Mr Turnbull again refused to entertain the idea of whjat he described as a “lynch mob witch hunt”.

“What is an audit? Are we saying that we’d propose to have somebody interrogate each and every member and senator? Examine their genealogy?”

The only body in Australia that could determine eligibility to sit under Section 44 of the Constitution is the High Court, Mr Turnbull said.

“Nobody else can do that.”

The PM was angry and at times emotional speaking about the claims made today about Mr Frydenberg.

Mr Frydenberg’s mother was a Holocaust survivor who was rendered stateless in the Nazi era.

“We have no place in Australia for witch hunts. That is not our way. It’s not part of the rule of law. It is not consistent with our values or principles.

“Has this witch hunt become so absurd that people are seriously claiming (he) is the citizen of a country that stripped his mother and her family of their citizenship and would’ve pushed them into the gas chambers had it not been that war was ended before they had time to do?”

The Australian reported that Mr Frydenberg has urgently hired a consultant in Budapest to see if he is a Hungarian citizen by virtue of his mother.

Mr Frydenberg has dismissed as “absurd” speculation he is a dual citizen.

He told Sky News his mother had been upset by the claims but he didn’t believe they were raised in malice.

“As you can understand, she hates the idea of this history being brought up again,” he said. “They don’t want to relive that past and for good reason.”

He had sought advice and was “very confident in my position, that I am an Australian citizen and an Australian citizen only”.

AUSSIES DEMAND AN AUDIT

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the Australian people were “fed up” with the dual citizenship saga but a new poll indicates strong support for a full audit.

A poll of News Corp Australia readers had received more than 4400 responses by 4.30pm AEDT on Friday.

Of those respondents, an overwhelming majority - 83.75 per cent - were in favour of an audit while 14.64 per cent were opposed. Just 1.6 per cent were unsure.

Vote in our poll below:

citizenship status of all MPs in Federal Parliament?

Mr Morrison lashed out at the media in the wake of the latest drama to hit the government.

“Enough time, money and energy has been wasted on the endless discussion of these issues, and I think Australians are fed up with it,” he said.

“It’s one of the reasons why Australians are turning down the sound on Canberra, and it’s not just on politicians — it’s on the media as well.”

Mr Morrison also said he was confident Mr Frydenberg’s position in parliament was sound.

RELATED: Citizenship saga — minister confesses

Mr Frydenberg’s mother, Erica, was born in the central European nation in 1943 and fled with her family during the Holocaust.

In a bid to account for Jews who found themselves stateless during WWII, Hungarian citizenship law states any person born in Hungary between 1941 and 1945 automatically becomes a citizen.

A child of a Hungarian citizen becomes a Hungarian citizen upon their birth.

A passenger card for Mr Frydenberg’s mother lists her nationality as “stateless”.

The passenger arrival card for Josh Frydenberg’s Mum, Erika Strausz, which says her nationality is “stateless” pic.twitter.com/hLWAllFCD7 — James Massola (@jamesmassola) November 2, 2017

“There are no issues with Josh, there are none, absolutely none,” Mr Morrison said.

Senate President Stephen Parry resigned this week after saying he may be a British dual citizen.

Five federal MPs, including government ministers Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash, have been disqualified from sitting in Parliament due to their dual citizenship status.