Malcolm Turnbull has acknowledged that the citizenship fiasco could ultimately cost the Coalition its lower house majority, and government, but he has ducked a question about whether the Liberal MP John Alexander will be referred to the high court.
The prime minister told the ABC on Tuesday it was “obvious” the rolling eligibility questions about MPs could trigger byelections, and “depending on the result of the byelections, that could have consequences for the government”.
But asked whether Alexander, the latest MP to get caught in the fracas because his father was born in the UK, would be referred to the high court, Turnbull said: “I’m not going to start front-running process.
“All of us have to respect the process that’s set up in the Electoral Act and the constitution,” he said. “People should make their declarations and then cases can be referred.”
Turnbull said anyone who believed now they were a dual citizen and ineligible to be in parliament should resign, but: “I take it as a given that every member of the House and the Senate, as of today, believes that they are eligible to sit in the House or the Senate.”
Alexander’s case emerged shortly after Turnbull told journalists on Monday that the Liberal party organisation had advised him that all MPs “believe that they are in compliance with the constitution”.
While high court dual citizenship cases turn on facts and legal argument, not belief, the prime minister said on Tuesday Alexander “believes he is not a dual citizen”.
Labor has intensified the political pressure, saying Alexander should be referred to the high court. The shadow finance minister, Jim Chalmers, said Turnbull had said on Monday that Liberal MPs had been checked and there were no problems.
“An hour later another Liberal MP was embroiled in the citizenship crisis,” Chalmers said. “Turnbull’s word means nothing. He can’t be trusted and neither can his MPs.
“Turnbull needs to explain what it is about Alexander’s case that is any different to [Stephen] Parry’s, [Barnaby] Joyce’s or [Fiona] Nash’s. And if he can’t explain the difference, the government must make a referral to the high court at the next opportunity.”
The prime minister on Monday attempted to create a circuit breaker in the citizenship fiasco by unveiling a new disclosure process requiring parliamentarians to state the date and place of birth of themselves and their parents, and provide evidence of renunciation of foreign citizenship, within 21 days.
He will discuss the proposal with the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, on Wednesday.
The new process, if adopted, would mean lower house MPs whose eligibility is now arguable would not have to provide the required declarations until after federal parliament has risen for the summer recess, pushing any negative consequences into the new political year.
On Tuesday Turnbull also flagged more explicit vetting processes when candidates nominate for parliament, although the procedures he outlined on Monday basically mimic the process that now exist when would-be candidates nominate.
The Greens have criticised the Turnbull proposal. On Tuesday the Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the new system, which is modelled on the pecuniary interests register, was “a weak mechanism”.
He said many MPs breached the current disclosure rules, without any apparent consequences. “When people are in breach of it there is really no effective punitive arrangement to haul MPs into line.”
The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, said on Tuesday the 21-day timeframe would not prevent MPs from making early declarations about their compliance with the constitutional requirements.
Cormann said 21 days was an “entirely appropriate” timeframe – but “nobody is prevented from being responsive more swiftly”.
The finance minister said he believed the government would survive the citizenship fracas but the new system of transparency would make sure the Australian public “can have full confidence in the integrity of the parliament”.
Internal tension also continues within the Coalition about who will replace Parry as the new Senate president. The Nationals are pushing the New South Wales senator John “Wacka” Williams for the post but Liberals claim it as their own.
Turnbull on Tuesday will travel to Tamworth to drop in on Joyce, who is facing a byelection in New England courtesy of being ruled ineligible by the high court.
