Parry to quit as UK citizenship confirmed
PRESSURE is building for a full parliamentary audit of citizenship status with senior Liberal senator Stephen Parry announcing he will quit parliament today after confirmation of his British citizenship.
Government backbenchers Eric Abetz and Craig Kelly have broken ranks from major party colleagues to support an audit following the sixth elected member forced to quit.
Senator Parry – the president of the Upper House – received advice from the UK Home Office yesterday and said he would submit his resignation as both president and a Tasmanian MP today.
Tensions between the Coalition partners have emerged over the past week, with many Liberals furious that the Nationals – through Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash – had put the Turnbull Government through the situation.
Senator Parry wrote to colleagues with “a heavy heart” yesterday to inform them he had received advice from the British Home Office that he was a citizen by virtue of his father’s birthplace.
Acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek yesterday labelled the Turnbull government a “soap opera” as she poured doubt over claims Malcolm Turnbull only found out about the Coalition’s latest potential dual citizen this week.