Canavan not Italian, court told
QUEENSLAND LNP Senator Matt Canavan may not be an Italian citizen after all, in the latest twist in his case before the High Court yesterday.
The eligibility of seven current or former Federal politicians who were dual citizens, including Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce and Senator Canavan, is being determined by the full bench of the court this week.
Senator Canavan’s qualification for parliament is under question due to Italian citizenship automatically passed through his mother’s line.
But his barrister David Bennett referred testimony from an expert that stated there was doubt and debate among Italian lawyers on whether citizenship was conferred automatically.
“In my opinion the better view is that it’s not automatic, therefore he’s not an Italian citizen and why are we here in the first place?” he said.
Outside court, Mr Bennett said it was his view that Senator Canavan was not Italian.
“I’m asking the court to find that on the evidence they can’t find that he was ( Italian),” he said.
In August this year, Senator Canavan resigned from the frontbench when he revealed his mother had signed him up for Italian citizenship, then last month his lawyers argued he’d been Italian since age two because a change to the Italian constitution allowed citizenship to be passed down the maternal line. Written submissions further revealed the paperwork filed by his mother for her own claim to Italian citizenship did not sign him up as previously thought.