It Looks Like Malcolm Roberts Could Be In Serious Trouble Over His Citizenship Mess

Australia’s favourite dolphin-fighting climate skeptic could soon be booted from parliament. On Wednesday, the Senate is expected to support a motion referring One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts to the High Court, amidst growing concerns that he failed to renounce his British citizenship before running for office.

I know. Feels good, don’t it?

The saga of Roberts’ citizenship has been going on for a while now. Last year his office told The Guardian that he had never been a citizen of any country other than Australia – a claim that was refuted last month when BuzzFeed unearthed documents showing that he had traveled on a British passport as a child. Yesterday, BuzzFeed published additional documents showing that a 19-year-old Roberts also signed as a British citizen when he and his family applied for Australian citizenship in 1974.

Roberts, for his part, claims to have contacted British authorities in June last year, just prior to the election. He says he told them he did not believe he held British citizenship, but that he was renouncing it if he did. However, he also says he only received confirmation of his de-Britification in December, several months after winning his seat.

A One Nation spokesperson subsequently told reporters that Roberts “is choosing to believe that he was never British.” I’m no lawyer, but that defence sounds… not great.

I hear Malcolm Roberts also chooses to believe that he is not a complete F’Wit. #auspol

— MW (@MWChatShow) July 27, 2017

According to the ABC, the Greens will move a motion this afternoon referring Roberts to the High Court. The motion is expected to receive the backing of Labor, Jacqui Lambie, Derryn Hinch, the Nick Xenephon team and even frequent One Nation ally Cory Bernardi, giving it more than enough votes to pass.

The government, which sometimes relies on the aid of One Nation to move legislation through the Senate, will not support the motion.

Should Roberts be stood down by the court, his seat would go to the next person on the One Nation ticket, Fraser Anning. However Anning is currently facing bankruptcy proceedings in court, which if proven would make him ineligible as well, however Junkee is not suggesting any wrongdoing on his part. At that point, Roberts’ seat would go to the next person on the ticket, Judy Smith, who is Pauline Hanson’s older sister.

On Tuesday the Senate also referred former cabinet minister Matthew Canavan and former Greens senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters to the High Court to determine if they were also ineligible to serve due to their dual citizenship.