One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts is fighting for political survival after Pauline Hanson averted an embarrassing defeat in the Senate by personally referring his "complex" dual citizenship case to the High Court.
Despite insisting for weeks that Senator Roberts properly renounced his British citizenship before the last election, Senator Hanson moved the Senate motion after it became clear a Greens-led push against him would succeed.
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Senator's eligibility concerns
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts won't release the documents proving when his British citizenship ceased, putting his eligibility to be in Parliament under a cloud.
Richard Di Natale's motion had the support of Labor, the Nick Xenophon Team and other key crossbenchers. Senator Hanson's eleventh hour intervention ensured the motion passed without a potentially damaging debate.
The referral caps a turbulent three weeks for Senator Roberts, who has been refusing to answer key questions about his citizenship history or produce documents that he says proves he is eligible to remain in the Senate. Section 44 of the constitution prohibits dual citizens from serving in Federal Parliament.
Despite previously threatening to report journalists to police for asking questions about Senator Roberts' situation, One Nation sought to spin its referral motion as proof the party was committed to "openness and transparency".
"We are being very upfront to be accountable to the people and I have always acted that way," Senator Hanson said, adding Senator Roberts has her "full support".
"I am strongly of the belief that everyone in this chamber should be an Australian citizen, should not have allegiance to another country and I truly do believe that of Senator Roberts," she said.
But she also said his case was "not straightforward" – while refusing to elaborate.
"It is a very complex case with regards to Senator Roberts. You don't understand the full situation, so therefore I'm not going to go into this. It will be decided by the High Court," she said.
Senator Roberts said he was looking forward to stating his case in the court, and he would keep voting in the Senate until it made its ruling.
"I have always thought that I was British – um, that I was Australian. I have always thought I was Australian," he said.
The government and opposition helped convince Senator Hanson to move the motion herself, rather than let the Greens do it. They did not want the Senate to set the precedent of partisan High Court referrals.
Senator Roberts' case is likely to hinge on whether sending a handful of emails to the British High Commission about his citizenship prior to nominating as a candidate amounted to taking "reasonable steps" to renounce his British citizenship.
Constitutional experts have said given Britain's renunciation process is clear, straightforward and long-standing his argument is unlikely to cut it.
The referral is a major change of heart for Senator Hanson who on July 26, in response to questions from Fairfax Media, said she could "hand on heart" assure her supporters Senator Roberts was not a dual citizen and she had viewed his documents prior to the election.
Just last week Senator Hanson said Senator Roberts would provide the Senate with documents proving he was not a British dual citizen when he nominated as a candidate last year.
"Because the last thing we want is this to go to the High Court, another cost to the taxpayers that we don't want," she said. But he did not provide the documents.
Senator Roberts' case is remarkably similar to the 1998 case of Heather Hill, a One Nation senator who was ruled ineligible to sit in Parliament after she was found to have been elected while a dual British-Australian citizen.
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