Derryn Hinch has back-pedalled on his intention to ask the Senate to refer him to the high court next week, saying if the government thinks he is eligible to sit in parliament then he won’t bother.

The Victorian senator revealed this week he had sought legal advice about his eligibility because he has an American social security number from his time working in New York as a journalist in the 1960s and early 70s.

He said he may need to refer himself to the high court to settle the matter, which would make him the eighth parliamentarian to face the high court since the citizenship imbroglio began with the resignation of two Greens senators, Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam.

Senior members of the government have looked at Hinch’s proposition with some scepticism this week.

Malcolm Turnbull dead-batted when asked about the matter on Thursday, saying Hinch needed “to get some advice on that and form his own judgment as to what he should do”.

Late on Thursday, Hinch revealed to Sky News he had spoken to the attorney general, George Brandis, and was now waiting to hear what the government thought of his situation.

He said he would not refer himself to the high court if he had no case to answer – despite previously saying it would be best to proceed to the high court regardless so he couldn’t be accused of hiding anything.

“I don’t want to go to the high court, and I hope I don’t have to, because it will be a waste of the court’s time,” he told Sky News.

“I’ve talked briefly to George Brandis today. If I can get a ruling from the government and the solicitor general that they don’t think I’m in breach [of the constitution] then I won’t go.

He said he was “bewildered” by his situation and he dismissed suggestions he was merely seeking publicity.



“I didn’t raise it, someone vindictively told the Herald Sun and they got it to me,” he said.

Hinch had earlier told the media he had sought advice on Wednesday evening from a couple of constitutional lawyers about whether his social security number was an issue that could render him ineligible to sit in the parliament, and “they think I’m in good shape”.

He said he wanted to be transparent but was concerned about wasting the high court’s time.

“It’s now got to this damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Hinch had said. “If I say I’ve got this constitutional advice, out there in voter land they’ll say what are you scared of, what are you hiding, why won’t you go to the high court?”

Three government ministers – Barnaby Joyce, Fiona Nash and Matt Canavan; the One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts; and Nick Xenophon, leader of the NXT, will also have their eligibility examined by the high court.

The first batch of cases will be heard in October.