After days of silence, Justice Minister Michael Keenan has taken to social media to say he renounced his British citizenship, which he inherited from his father, before entering Parliament in 2004.
Mr Keenan was the third Turnbull minister to come under the dual citizenship spotlight.
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After blasting Fairfax Media for publishing a story questioning his citizenship, the Liberal MP took to social media to reveal just what his status is.
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The Keenan citizenship saga
After blasting Fairfax Media for publishing a story questioning his citizenship, the Liberal MP took to social media to reveal just what his status is.
Despite two days of repeated questioning by Fairfax Media, Mr Keenan's office had refused to say when he had renounced his British citizenship, only maintaining that the minister is an "Australian citizen and does not hold citizenship of any other country".
Experts had warned that Mr Keenan could be a "citizen by descent" of Britain, unless he or or his father went through the formal renunciation process.
But on Thursday morning, Mr Keenan took to Twitter to say he renounced his British citizenship 13 years ago.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's office was also pressed over Mr Keenan's situation, and refused to clarify his status on Wednesday night.
British consultancy firm and immigration experts Sable International said that under UK law, the Western Australian MP could be a Briton by descent – unless he had renounced his citizenship.
Mr Keenan's father Peter was born in Durham in England in 1943. He emigrated to Australia, where he married and had Mr Keenan in 1972.
Sable International director of immigration and nationality, Philip Gamble, told Fairfax Media Mr Keenan's father's status as a British citizen would not have been affected by his marriage in Australia, nor would he have been required to renounce it in order to become an Australian citizen.
Under the British Nationality Act of 1948, Michael Keenan would have received the status of a citizen of "the UK and colonies" at birth.
Fairfax Media contacted a number of Australian constitutional experts who all noted the complications surrounding British citizenship law, given the number of statutes that cover the issue.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce referred himself to the High Court on Monday but has remained in cabinet pending the court's decision.
Matt Canavan, who also discovered he was a dual citizen after learning his mother signed him up for Italian citizenship when he was 25, also referred his case to the High Court, resigning as resources minister. He is staying on the Senate for the time being.
The High Court has set down a directions hearing next Thursday for Mr Joyce, Senator Canavan and One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, who also referred himself to the court, after failing to reveal when, and how, he renounced his British citizenship.
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