Senator goes solo
Cloud hangs over Lambie, replacements
PAULINE Hanson’s parliamentary clout and credibility have been dealt a blow with the defection from her One Nation party of a senator just hours after he was sworn in.
Queensland business consultant Fraser Anning replaced Malcolm Roberts, who was disqualified by the High Court over his dual UK citizenship.
Senator Hanson had sought over recent weeks to convince Senator Anning to stand aside and allow Mr Roberts to return.
But the final straw was the One Nation leader’s decision to exclude Senator Anning’s staff – who formerly worked for Mr Roberts – from a party room meeting on Monday morning, just before the swearing in by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.
“I’m not going to be told who I can have and who I can’t have,” Senator Anning said, adding Senator Hanson had a history of appointing “poor advisers”.
The decision made an immediate impact on the Queensland state election campaign, with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk saying it showed the “chaos” wreaked by One Nation-coalition governments.
It leaves One Nation with three senators and the government having to conduct separate negotiations on key legislation with Senator Anning.
The chamber now comprises 29 coalition senators, 26 Labor, nine Greens, three One Nation, three Nick Xenophon Team, as well as Jacqui Lambie, Lucy Gichuhi, Derryn Hinch, David Leyonhjelm, Cory Bernardi and Senator Anning.
Labor and the coalition agreed yesterday to a December 1 deadline for all MPs to publicly disclose details of their Australian citizenship or renunciation of foreign ties.
Another victim of the fiasco, Stephen Parry, was replaced as Senate president by former special minister of state, Scott Ryan, yesterday. INDEPENDENT senator Jacqui Lambie could be the latest federal politician to fall victim to the citizenship saga and serious doubts have emerged over the eligibility of her possible replacements.
The Tasmanian senator told media she would resign if the British Home Office confirmed she is a UK citizen by descent through her father, who was born in Scotland.
She is expecting to find out on Monday or Tuesday.
Senator Lambie said in a statement last week that she did not believe she was a dual citizen.
“I am proud of my Scottish ancestry and my father is too,” she said. “I’m happy to put on record that I’m satisfied that my parents are both Australian citizens and I have no concerns about me being a dual citizen because of where they were born or came from.”
If she leaves parliament, members of her Jacqui Lambie Network may not be able to replace her.
The next person on her Tasmanian 2016 election ticket was Devonport mayor Steve Martin.
Whether a local council position is an “office of profit under the Crown” – a ground for disqualification under the constitution – has been a grey area in constitutional law.
The next person on the ticket, Rob Waterman, is CEO of Rural Health Tasmania.
Rural Health Tasmania’s annual report for 2017 said it received funding from several federal government programs run by the departments of health and social services.
That could also constitute an office of profit under the Crown.