The nation should be forced to vote on changes to the constitution to ensure more Australians can run for Parliament and the electoral system is not manipulated, according to a bipartisan parliamentary committee.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull ordered the review of section 44 of the constitution in October last year, after the High Court ruled the elections of then deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and four other politicians at the 2016 election were invalid.
During this term of Parliament, the provision has brought down 15 parliamentarians over its dual citizenship ban, and another two politicians have also been felled over their criminal history and financial dealings.
"Australian dual citizens can sit on the High Court or fight and die for our nation, but not nominate as a candidate," committee chair Linda Reynolds said in the report.
The committee said there were a range of options available to improve the current situation, and suggested that work could be done without a referendum if it was not proposed or supported by the Australian public.
"Measures include things like candidates fill out the same paperwork that members of parliament now fill out to certify their citizenship history, and other disqualifications," Senator Reynolds told the ABC.
Section 44 of the constitution contains a range of disqualifications for prospective politicians. They include that parliamentarians cannot be dual citizens, cannot be bankrupts, have any financial interests with the Commonwealth, cannot have a criminal conviction against their name or be awaiting sentencing for an offence that carries a term of imprisonment, or hold a publicly funded job.
The committee's report, titled Excluded — The impact of section 44 on Australian democracy, recommended that parliament be given the power to decide who should be disqualified from public office, to ensure the standards keep up with the changing face of Australia.
"We, as Australians, should never be reluctant to test and debate the health of our democracy, particularly when an issue has created as much disruption as section 44 has in the past year," the committee stated.
"We, as members of Parliament, should never be afraid of the debate and putting these questions to the Australian public."
Other than repealing the list of disqualifying factors contained in the constitution, the committee suggested changes could be made by asking the public to insert the words "until the Parliament otherwise provides".
That recommendation would allow members and senators to tweak the eligibility requirements themselves, without there being wholesale changes to the constitution.
"Clearly, the preconditions don't yet exist for a referendum, which is why we're calling for the Government to implement temporary measures to ensure that at the next by-elections, and at the general election, that we don't have the possibility of referrals to the High Court," Senator Reynolds said.
Government 'not inclined to pursue' referendum
Special Minister of State Mathias Cormann was swift to respond, and said the Government was "not inclined to pursue a referendum".
"We will give due consideration to the findings and recommendations of the committee," he said in a statement.
"As the committee itself recognised, successful constitutional change is challenging and making the case would take more time than is available prior to the next general election.
"The Government is however taking active steps now to minimise the risk of a recurrence of the eligibility issues that have arisen in the 45th Parliament."
Senator Cormann said the Federal Government would work with the Australian Electoral Commission to improve the candidate nomination process in the interim.
The committee voiced concerns over the impact disqualifications would have on the overall makeup of parliament.
It said the disqualification of candidates would impact other parliamentarians, if they had been elected on the back of preference flows.
