Embattled Braddon Labor MHR Justine Keay has tabled documents in Parliament confirming she held British citizenship until after the 2016 federal election.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After months of speculation over Ms Keay’s citizenship status, the Braddon MP’s renunciation papers have been published through the Parliament’s citizenship register.
They confirm that she did not receive confirmation from the British Home Office that she had renounced her citizenship until July 11, 2016, a month after nominations for the double dissolution election had closed on June 9.
Despite having signed the document on May 9 of that year, Ms Keay’s renunciation was not registered until two months later.
“As I have said all along, I took all reasonable steps I could to be nominated for Parliament,” Ms Keay said in a statement.
Ms Keay is relying on advice from barristers Simona Gory and Ray Finkelstein, who say she passed the “reasonable steps” test, meaning she was validly elected.
Ms Keay is one of a number of Labor MPs under a citizenship cloud following the release of the documents.
Questions now remain as to whether or not Labor will refer Ms Keay’s case to the High Court.
Tasmanian Liberal Senator Eric Abetz said Ms Keay had “a case to answer”.
“If, as she claims, she is so confident in her legal advice then she should have nothing to fear,” he said.