Victorian MP David Feeney has confirmed he is still unable to produce any documentary evidence from British or Irish authorities that he took steps to renounce his citizenship and entitlements, the high court has heard.

Legal representatives of David Feeney and Katy Gallagher, the first two Labor members to be caught in the citizenship fiasco, appeared before the high court in Brisbane on Friday.



Feeney was referred to the court by federal parliament in December after being unable to produce documents confirming he had renounced any foreign citizenship in 2007.

On Friday, the high court granted Feeney an extension to 1 February to allow his team to continue their search for the relevant documents. There were also delays in confirming expert witnesses.

Lawyer TE O’Brien prefaced the two main issues he would be addressing on behalf of Feeney – the factual matter of what steps he took to renounce foreign citizenship and entitlements, and whether they constituted “all reasonable steps”.

Feeney’s evidence would be that in 2007, before being nominated, he received advice from the ALP legal unit on steps he should take to renounce his British citizenship and his entitlements to take up Irish citizenship.

“For some reason, Mr Feeney’s renunciation was not registered,” O’Brien said.

Inquiries were still being made to find evidence, he said.

Gallagher has said she took all steps within her power to renounce her British citizenship before nominating to run for the Senate.

Her legal team will argue that she not only took “reasonable steps” to renounce her citizenship by descent, but also every possible step available to her.

Chief Justice Susan Kiefel said the relevant question appeared to be which date in the timeline of Gallagher’s renunciation attempt, nomination, election and renunciation confirmation mattered.

The solicitor general, Stephen Donaghue QC, said Gallagher took steps to renounce her British citizenship less than two months before the close of nominations, leading to potential questions about the “reasonableness” of her timing.

A byelection in Feeney’s marginal seat of Batman in Melbourne could be challenging for Labor – the Greens are a genuine threat with preselected candidate, Alex Bhathal.

The court granted an application for Bhathal to be made a party to the matters, and heard she could serve as contradictor to Feeney’s case. The legal representatives of the attorney general did not oppose the suggestion.

Kiefel said there were limits on the high court’s ability to fast-track all citizenship cases “as they keep coming in”, instead pushing for a hearing during the March sittings.

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report