There is one point about which I differ from you [Di Natale]. There is no constitutional crisis, there is no political crisis. There is the unexpected effect of a decision of the high court which has resulted in both houses of the parliament now having had to resign or be referred to the court of disputed returns.

Brandis says the government has referred the matter of section 44 to the joint standing committee on electoral matters, to determine what could be done to ameliorate its impact. One option, Brandis says, is to consider a constitutional referendum . That was not the government’s policy, but Brandis says it should at least be canvassed. Another option to be canvassed is reforms to Australia’s citizenship laws , with the aim of changing the way foreign citizenship could be renounced .

Section 44 on the reading the high court gave it ... is not in my view appropriate for a multicultural democracy in which 51% of people were born overseas or has at least one parent that was born overseas.

The attorney general, George Brandis, has just denied the parliament’s citizenship woes are either a constitutional or political crisis . Brandis agrees with the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, that section 44 of the constitution, which bars dual citizens from office, is not appropriate in Australia’s multicultural society .

Suggestions that I directed Senator Parry are wrong and Mr President I was not aware that Senator Parry was a dual citizen until he advised all colleagues of this by way of a memo.

Wong asks Fifield whether he directed Parry to keep silent about his citizenship concerns until after the high court ruled on the matter.

Question time has just kicked off in the Senate . The leader of the opposition in the Senate, Penny Wong, has begun with a series of attacks on the communications minister, Mitch Fifield . The strategy is much the same as yesterday. Labor is attempting to flush out what Fifield knew about the citizenship woes of former Senate president Stephen Parry and what he did with such knowledge.

But Lambie said Martin’s eligibility had been thoroughly checked . She said he was eligible and that the restriction did not apply to mayors.

She was asked what checks had been done to ensure Martin was eligible, given fears he might fall foul of section 44 of the constitution . Martin, through his role as mayor, could be found to hold an office of profit under the Crown.

We talked a little earlier about the potential replacement for Lambie , following her retirement. The next name on her 2016 ticket is Steve Martin, the current mayor of Devonport , a city on Tasmania’s north coast.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie wipes away a tear as Labor senator Pat Dodson gives an emotional speech after she resigned from her position in the Senate chamber this afternoon.

I haven’t slept for nearly four days not knowing what’s going on. If they want to continue to live like that, if they actually have a conscience, then be my guest. But quite frankly, and I’ll tell her right now, the people of Braddon will not appreciate that.

Lambie is speaking to the media outside . She has a message for Justine Keay , Labor’s MP for the Tasmanian seat of Braddon. Keay is also under a citizenship cloud , and Lambie has expressed an interest in running for her seat, should a byelection be held. Lambie says:

Mike Bowers was down in the Senate for Jacqui Lambie’s speech. All sides of the chamber momentarily suspended hostilities to wish her well and express sadness at her sudden departure. Attorney general George Brandis and Labor senator Doug Cameron both spoke glowingly of Lambie. Cameron said no one was ever bored when Lambie was on her feet.

She is Bill Shorten’s handpicked candidate, so obviously, Eddie Obeid and Bill Shorten have formed the same view about Kristina Keneally. And I just say again, the voters of Bennelong should back John Alexander, a great local member who has delivered in every respect for his community.

Just a bit more on Turnbull’s media conference . He bought into the attack on Kristina Keneally , mounted by Greg Hunt earlier today, which attempts to tie her to Eddie Obeid, the jailed NSW powerbroker .

Asked about a bill that would allow businesses to say “no gay weddings serviced here” – in reference to Paterson’s proposal – Turnbull said: “I think it would have virtually no prospect of getting through the parliament.”

Yesterday, Turnbull described the Smith bill as a good starting point but at a media conference in Manila on Tuesday he went further by warning: “I don’t believe Australians would welcome, and certainly the government would not countenance, making legal discrimination that is illegal, that is unlawful, today.”

The rival Paterson bill was criticised by lawyers, marriage equality advocates and the attorney general, George Brandis, for allowing discrimination against same-sex weddings by commercial service providers.

The intervention rejected calls from Tony Abbott to do more to protect religious freedom than the Smith bill does and “entrench the right to dissent from any new orthodoxy”.

As conservative Coalition MPs and senators rallied around the same-sex marriage bill released on Monday by Liberal senator James Paterson , Turnbull warned he intended to stamp his authority on the issue after the release of marriage law survey results tomorrow.

The government “would not countenance” legalising discrimination against same-sex weddings and a bill to do so would have “virtually no prospect” of passing parliament, Malcolm Turnbull has said in an extraordinary rebuke of conservatives demanding the rollback of anti-discrimination laws.

“Don’t let Kristina Keneally do to Bennelong what she did to NSW,” he said.

Turnbull is asked about the selection of Kristina Keneally as Labor’s candidate for Bennelong. He said John Alexander was a great candidate for the Liberals, and cautioned voters :

Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull reviews an honour guard during an anti-terror demonstration of Australian and Philippine soldiers at Camp Aguinaldo, in Quezon City, metro Manila.

“We had a very good one-on-one meeting, just the two of us, we decided we would sit down and have a very frank discussion,” Turnbull said.

He said his meeting with Trump was one-on-one , without any officials. The discussions were frank, he said.

Malcolm Turnbull is speaking in Manila , Philippines, on the final day of his trip through Asia. He’s fresh from meetings with Donald Trump and Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi .

Jacqui Lambie addresses the Senate

A clearly emotional Jacqui Lambie is now speaking about her resignation. She received confirmation this morning that her grandfather hadn’t renounced his British citizenship, which she and her father inherited by descent.

Fighting back tears, she says she hasn’t been able to sleep for days, while a question mark remained about her citizenship.

“There’s no question mark any more, it’s in place in an answer in black and white, courtesy of an email sent by a bureaucrat sitting at his desk on a London afternoon,” Lambie said. “Anyone who knows my father would be shocked to think of him other than anything else than an Aussie,” she said.

Lambie says she has worked hard to be a voice for the voiceless. That included championing the rights of veterans and welfare recipients. “Veterans fight hard for this country, they shouldn’t have to fight their government when they get back,” she said.

“Politicians on both sides of the house talk about helping those on welfare without ever having experienced what it’s like to choose between spending your welfare payment on either school uniforms or school lunches,” she said.

“Voters must look at their options and despair.”

Lambie says she does not know what will happen to her next, politically or personally. But she wants to come back to parliament, on either side of the building, and wants her party, the Jacqui Lambie Network, to be represented.

Lambie was overcome with emotion while praising her staff. “Thanks to my staff, who at many times have been my bloody saving grace, I’ll tell you. You’ve proven yourself to be loyal, you’re wonderful, you are hard working, and I would never have gotten this far without you,” she said. “If you need a reference later come and see me because I’m going to give you the best one you’ve ever had.”

She said: “For now, I just want to say thank you, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be in here.”

Updated at 15.57 GMT