Via The Guardian:
The high court has ruled One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts was a dual British and Australian citizen for six months after he was elected.
Justice Patrick Keane on Friday afternoon ruled Roberts, who believed he had renounced his British citizenship before last year’s election, was a citizen of the UK at the time of his nomination.
He found that “arguably” the only step the Queensland senator took to renounce dual citizenship was sending a 6 June email that experts agreed “could not be effective as a renunciation” because it was not sent to the UK Home Office.
Born to an Australian mother and Welsh father in India in 1955, the Queensland senator is one of seven parliamentarians to have their future considered by the high court, because the constitution bans dual citizens from sitting in parliament.
Keane in his judgment on “issues of fact”, published on Friday, found that Roberts was a UK citizen until 5 December and that Roberts “knew that there was at least a real and substantial prospect” that he remained a UK citizen when nominating for the Senate.
Regarding Roberts’ belief that he was an Australian citizen only, Keane said: “[Roberts], as tenaciously as he contended for this highly subjective (and objectively untenable) view of things, was unable to maintain this position.”
“Senator Roberts knew that he did not become an Australian citizen until May 1974” when he was naturalised, Keane wrote. Roberts could have sought “professional advice” or called the UK High Commission in Canberra to clarify his status before nominating but “did neither of these things”.
The judge further found his 6 June email inquiry was not effective because it did not contain a “declaration of truth” or was accompanied by the required fee.
He said the senator’s claim to be Australian because he felt he was one by identification “confuses notions of how a person sees oneself with an understanding of how one’s national community sees an individual who claims to be legally entitled to be accepted as a member of that community”.
Such “letter of the law” interpretation does not bode well for wider deliberations of dual citizenship saga. With any luck, Roberts and his crazy views will be gone forthwith.
Meanwhile, Baaarnaby opposition is being fortified:
Barnaby Joyce’s political nemesis, ex-MP Tony Windsor, has hired the former government lawyer who spectacularly fell out with Attorney-General George Brandis to fight the Deputy Prime Minister in the High Court.
It is expected Justin Gleeson SC will appear in the High Court next month acting for Mr Windsor, who is party to the proceedings because he was the runner-up for Mr Joyce’s seat of New England at the 2016 election.
Mr Gleeson will do battle with his successor as solicitor-general, Stephen Donaghue, who is representing the Commonwealth in its defence of Mr Joyce and government MPs Matt Canavan and Fiona Nash – and by extension senator Nick Xenophon.
Fairfax Media understands Mr Gleeson will share barrister duties with Ron Merkel QC, who is assisting Mr Windsor in the case along with the Fitzroy Legal Centre. Taxpayers are footing the bill the legal defence of all the MPs caught in the citizenship net, and of Mr Windsor.
Mr Windsor confirmed Mr Gleeson had joined his team but did not want to comment on details.
“I’m not getting into who’s doing what. There’s a good team of people there,” he told Fairfax Media on Friday.
The odds surely favour the disqualification of all duel citizen dodgers.
