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Australian Electoral Commission could oversee politicians citizenship

Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson believes the process over whether a political candidate has dual citizenship should be streamlined.

Richard Di Natale, Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters
Richard Di Natale, Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters Source: AAP

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Source: AAP


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Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson believes the process of assessing whether political candidates have dual citizenship could be done by a specialised role at the Australian Electoral Office.

The Greens are presently conducting a review of their candidate process after two of their senators were forced to step down when they became aware they had duel citizenship, making them ineligible to stand under Section 44 of the Constitution.

Scott Ludlum left his West Australian Senate position two weeks ago when he was made aware he still had New Zealand citizenship and was followed just days later by his colleague and Queensland senator Larissa Walters, who was born in Canada.

Parliamentarians from all parties have since been checking there citizenship position.

Senator Whish-Wilson thinks it is worth considering having someone full-time at the Electoral Commission, or someone in a specialised role, to assess these matters.

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"That's something I think certainly the Greens and other politicians will consider," he told ABC television on Sunday.


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