The survival prospects for the Turnbull government continue to narrow, with another key crossbench member of Parliament withdrawing support.
Rebekha Sharkie of the Nick Xenophon Team said that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull needed to stand aside from his cabinet two ministers with citizenship problems, pending a High Court ruling on their eligibility.
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Citizenship net catches another
SA senator Nick Xenophon is checking his citizenship status after suggestions he inherited UK citizenship from his father.
Ms Sharkie told Fairfax Media on Friday that "I am quite frustrated with the Prime Minister" for retaining in cabinet Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Regional Development Minister Fiona Nash.
Mr Turnbull was showing "disrespect to the Australian community" and she has decided she will no longer support the government on the survival matters of confidence and supply.
The bombshell declaration leaves only one crossbencher, independent MP Cathy McGowan, still supporting the government, and she describes her position as "open". Katter's Australia Party MP Bob Katter withdrew his support earlier this week.
The government does not need the crossbenchers' support to hold power so long as it has a majority in the House of Representatives.
But in the event that the High Court rules against Mr Joyce, the government would lose its majority of one. It could only survive as a minority government with the support of at least one crossbencher.
They are the government's insurance against an adverse High Court finding.
"The maths is simple," independent MP Andrew Wilkie told Fairfax Media. "If Barnaby Joyce goes, Cathy McGowan would be the only one guaranteeing supply and confidence."
Mr Turnbull has told the Parliament that the "very strong" advice of the Solicitor-General to the government was that Mr Joyce would survive the High Court decision.
Ms McGowan - together with Ms Sharkie and Mr Wilkie - this week asked that Mr Joyce be stood aside from the ministry pending the High Court's decision on whether he is eligible to be a member of Parliament.
Ms McGowan told Fairfax Media on Friday that Thursday's revelation that Senator Nash was also a dual citizen "has given me huge food for thought".
"I want Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash to stand down from the ministry. Over the next two weeks" - a lull between parliamentary sitting weeks - "I will continue discussions with the Prime Minister. Who knows where we'll end up?"
Ms Sharkie said: "What we have seen in the past four days is a Parliament that's disrupted and I don't want it to be further denigrated in the weeks to come.
"It's supposed to be a working chamber but it's not working at the moment - the actions of both major parties are disrespectful. When Barnaby Joyce got up to speak as a minister in the house yesterday, half of Labor turned their backs. It's really terrible."
The leader of Ms Sharkie's party, senator Nick Xenophon, on Friday became the latest legislator to announce he could be a dual national with Australian and British citizenship, potentially violating section 44 of the constitution.
He said that he was remaining in the Parliament while seeking urgent legal advice. Ms Sharkie said that there was no contradiction in her support for Senator Xenophon to stay on and her demand that Mr Joyce and Senator Nash stand down from the ministry.
The crossbenchers agree that Mr Joyce and others under a cloud are entitled to sit in the Parliament until the High Court rules, but argue that they should not serve in the executive because it is too disruptive to the workings of the Parliament.
The High Court is expected to decide the cases in October, although a government minister told Fairfax Media that there was a possibility that the court might bring the matter forward to late August.