01:35

The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, has given a short speech in the Senate about Stephen Parry’s British citizenship after admitting he knew weeks before the high court decision that Parry faced an issue.



Fifield said he had discussions about citizenship with his colleagues and the “complexities” of foreign citizenship law, and Parry was “no exception”.

He said:

Given the varied and casual nature of these discussions I can’t be definitive about when Parry reflected on his circumstances. It was more than a couple of weeks before the high court decision, but it was not months.”

Fifield said Parry told him he was checking his family records, and he had encouraged Parry to do so. Fifield: