Dual citizenship: All senators to disclose status as Labor and Coalition agree on deadline

The impasse over the dual citizenship crisis may be at an end, with the two major parties finally agreeing on a timeline for mandatory disclosures in the Senate.

Citizenship test

Senators will provide their paperwork by December 1 Source: AAP

Every Australian senator will be forced to disclose their citizenship status by December 1 under legislation expected to be introduced in the Upper House today. 

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne confirmed the deal on Monday, calling it a "good outcome". 

Senators will have to provide proof they have renounced any foreign citizenships inherited from their parents, or point to the relevant laws that would prevent the citizenship flowing through descent. 

They will be asked to provide the details of where and when their parents and grandparents were born. 

"If there is a doubt ... a parent for example with the citizenship of another country, then they have to clear that doubt up by showing how they went about relinquishing that citizenship," Mr Pyne said.
The paperwork will be lodged with the Registrar of Senator's Interests, which already records politicians' financial investments.

Senators who knowingly give misleading or false information would be guilty of "serious contempt of the Senate", according to the bill. 



The deal was a product of a week-long negotiation between Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong and the government's Mathias Cormann. 

The bill will only create the process for senators, not members in the Lower House. The Senate is currently sitting and can pass its own legislation, but the Lower House is not due to resume until November 27. 

While there has not yet been an agreement on a discolure regime for the Lower House, it is unlikely to differ much from the Senate version. Foreign minister Julie Bishop said she would "expect a similar process". 

Negotiations between Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull broke down last week after the two men failed to agree on a process in a two-hour meeting. Mr Shorten was insisting on a December 1 deadline, which gave MPs less time than what the prime minister proposed. 


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By James Elton-Pym


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Dual citizenship: All senators to disclose status as Labor and Coalition agree on deadline | SBS News