Although a group of parliamentarians who were previously disqualified under Australia’s strict rules on dual citizenship and holding federal office have recently heard that any debts that they might be held liable for (e.g. salaries, staff, etc.) have been waived, the dual citizenship scandal continues to cast a shadow over Australian politics.

Five parliamentarians have announced their intention to quit as a result of a further High Court judgment relating to whether or not they had taken sufficient steps to renounce a second citizenship. Meanwhile, the Liberal Senator chairing an inquiry into how the matter might be solved has suggested that only a referendum to amend the constitution will solve the problem definitively.

With a federal election due at the end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019, Australian politics has been thrown into turmoil once more, with no obvious route to solve the problem of the overly narrow section 44 of the Constitution.

 

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