2017 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis
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| Date | 14 July 2017 – present (3 months, 2 weeks and 5 days) |
|---|---|
| Location | Canberra, Australian Capital Territory (Parliament House, Canberra, High Court) |
| Cause | Subsection 44(i) of the Australian Constitution |
| Participants | Scott Ludlam, Larissa Waters, Matt Canavan, Malcolm Roberts, Barnaby Joyce, Fiona Nash, Nick Xenophon, Stephen Parry |
| Outcome |
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| Re Canavan; Re Ludlam; Re Waters; Re Roberts [No 2]; Re Joyce; Re Nash; Re Xenophon | |
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| Court | High Court of Australia as the Court of Disputed Returns |
| Decided | 27 October 2017 |
| Citation(s) | [2017] HCA 45 |
| Transcript(s) | |
| Case opinions | |
| A dual citizen, irrespective of whether they knew about their citizenship status, will be disqualified unless they have taken "all steps that are reasonably required" to renounce their other citizenship. | |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Kiefel CJ, Bell, Gageler, Keane, Nettle, Gordon, Edelman JJ |
| Keywords | |
In 2017, the eligibility of Australian parliamentarians with actual or possible dual citizenship to sit in the Parliament of Australia was called into question, amounting to an ongoing political event referred to variously as a constitutional crisis or the citizenship crisis. The issue arises from section 44 of the Constitution of Australia, which includes a subsection prohibiting allegiance to a foreign power for members of either house of the Parliament of Australia. On that basis, the High Court of Australia had previously held that someone who holds dual citizenship is ineligible for election to either house.
Seven cases of politicians claiming that they had not been aware of holding dual citizenship before they were elected were referred to the High Court of Australia by the house of parliament in which they sat. Senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters, Co-Deputy Leaders of the Australian Greens, voluntarily resigned their seats. The parliament referred their cases to the High Court in early August, together with those of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Senator Matt Canavan, both of whom were National Party ministers in the Turnbull Government at the time, as well as Senator Malcolm Roberts of One Nation. The cases of Nationals Deputy Leader and frontbencher Senator Fiona Nash, and leader of his eponymous minor party Senator Nick Xenophon, were referred to the High Court by the Senate on 4 September. While Canavan had resigned from Cabinet, Joyce and Nash remained in Cabinet with the support of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The seven politicians were referred to collectively in the media as the "Citizenship Seven".
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