Richard Di Natale says he will ask the Senate to get the court to consider the One Nation senator’s citizenship status

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The Senate could refer the eligibility of One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts to the high court as early as Wednesday, after the senator’s repeated refusal to release his personal documents.

But the Greens’ attempt to audit the citizenship status of every MP in parliament will be quashed, because the Coalition and Labor refuse to support it.

A cloud hangs over the eligibility of some MPs in parliament, and the Senate agreed on Tuesday to refer the eligibility of Nationals senator Matt Canavan and Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters to the high court to determine whether they were allowed to stand for election last year.

Malcolm Roberts citizenship explainer: one nation – or more? Read more

All three senators discovered in recent weeks that they held dual citizenship when they nominated for the election, putting them in breach of section 44 of the constitution.

Ludlam and Waters resigned from parliament when they discovered their dual citizenship, but Canavan chose to stay, only standing aside as minister for resources and northern Australia pending further legal advice.

Canavan said on Tuesday that he welcomed the Senate’s decision to send his matter to the high court, saying he would not vote in the Senate until the matter was resolved.

The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, said he would ask the Senate on Wednesday to ask the high court, acting as the court of disputed returns, to consider the eligibility of Roberts, because he has repeatedly refused to release his personal documents clarifying his citizenship status.



Roberts’ account of his citizenship status has changed repeatedly in recent weeks, and a statutory declaration he tabled in the Senate on Tuesday failed to clear the matter up.

Roberts’ statutory declaration confirmed he was presently not a citizen of the UK or India, and was a citizen of Australia only – but it did not clarify whether he was an Australian citizen-only when he nominated for the election last year.

New documents cited by Buzzfeed on Tuesday again confirmed that Roberts had been a British citizen in the past, contradicting the senator’s claim last year that he had “never held any citizenship other than Australian”.

Any motion to refer Roberts to the high court supported by Labor and the Greens and opposed by the government will require a further four senators to succeed.

The Coalition has confirmed it will not support the motion, but it is understood Labor is likely to support it.

Senators Cory Bernardi, Derryn Hinch, and Jacqui Lambie have also said they will support it, so the Greens need one more vote.

Malcolm Roberts under pressure on citizenship as new documents revealed – as it happened Read more

Nick Xenophon has told Guardian Australia he is not sure if he will support the motion yet, while senators David Leyonjhelm and Lucy Gichuhi have not said whether they will support it.

The attempt by the Greens, Hinch, and Lambie to ask the legal and constitutional affairs committee to appoint an independent auditor to consider the citizenship status of every MP in parliament will likely be quashed, because the Coalition and Labor have said it is unnecessary.

Labor senator Penny Wong said on Tuesday: “I know some in this place have called for the appointment of some body or eminent person to ‘audit’ the eligibility of all senators.

“This isn’t an approach the Labor party supports.”