Section 44 of the Constitution forbids parliamentarians from being dual citizens.
Matt Canavan became the third senator to become embroiled in the dual nationality fiasco engulfing federal parliament, after the resignations of Greens deputy leaders Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters.
The AGE explains that the law requires Australian lawmakers to take all reasonable steps to renounce any other foreign citizenship to be eligible for election. And it says there should immediately be a full audit of the eligibility of every federal parliamentarian.
The paper also argues that anyone found to be in clear breach will have to resign from Parliament.
However, the paper believes that Section 44 is evidently inappropriate for today's Australia and needs to be replaced or removed. The Constitution can be changed by referendum. The AGE argues that given the cost and effort required to run a referendum, the Coalition and Labor should consider bundling this proposition with a question on introducing fixed-term parliaments.
