Senators have three weeks to prove they are Australian

ALL Australian senators have three weeks to prove they were not foreign nationals when elected under an agreement the major political parties reached yesterday to resolve a deepening citizenship crisis that could upend the government.

The conservative coalition of Malcolm Turnbull, the prime minister, could lose two seats at by-elections next month after John Alexander, a government legislator, quit from parliament on Saturday as he had likely inherited British citizenship from his English father.

Australia is rare if not unique in the world in banning dual nationals from sitting in parliament.

Pressure is growing to reform the 116-year-old constitution amid the growing uncertainty over how many by-elections might result from the current crisis and which party might end up forming a government.

Mr Turnbull’s conservative Liberal Party and the centre-left opposition Labor Party agreed to set a Dec 1 deadline for senators to provide documents to prove they were solely Australian citizens. Australian-born legislators will have to provide details of their parents and grandparents’ dates and countries of birth to demonstrate that they have not inherited a second nationality.

Immigrant legislators must document steps they have taken to renounce their original nationalities.