It’s possible Senator Parry is a British citizen by descent, given his father moved to Australia from the UK in the 1950s.

He is the eighth person to be dragged into the dual citizenship scandal that has been plaguing Australian Parliament this year.

In July, Green Senators Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters both resigned after discovering they held dual citizenship (Mr Ludlam held New Zealand citizenship and Ms Walters held Canadian citizenship).

The same month, Liberal National Party Senator Matt Canavan announced he held Italian citizenship due to his mother applying without his knowledge.

The drama continued to August with One National Senator Malcolm Roberts and independent Senator Nick Xenophon both holding British citizenship.

And just when you thought it was all over, Australia’s deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce discovered he was a Kiwi via descent.

All of the cases were referred to the High Court. And just last week the court determined that Section 44 (i) of our constitution was to be interpreted as predicted – dual citizens are not allowed to serve in Australian Parliament.

Mr Joyce renounced his citizenship, after discovering he was a New Zealander, making him eligible to stand in the by-election. Senator Canavan was granted a reprieve and the other five were all ruled to be ineligible.

For Senator Parry to only now be questioning his citizenship is remarkable given the spotlight on the issue the past three months.

In his maiden speech, he told Parliament he was a “Tasmanian by birth” and was a descendant of the First Fleet convicts.

In a press release, Senator Parry said the High Court ruling made it very clear the interpretation of Section 44 (i) and he had sought further clarification.

The citizenship saga has started to raise questions on the validity of Section 44 (i) in terms of Australia’s identity.  Given we pride ourselves on being a multi-cultural country are we restricting the potential pool of talent for our government.

While that should be debated, it’s fair and reasonable for Australians to expect all elected officials to follow the current law and be proactive when the situation arises.