Minister acting as PM

FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop will stand in as Australia’s acting prime minister while Malcolm Turnbull conducts an overseas trip, following the dual citizenship crisis that has sidelined his deputy.

Australia’s High Court disqualified deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and four other senators from sitting in Parliament on Friday after they were each found to hold citizenship of Australia and another country.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney yesterday before a visit to Israel, Mr Turnbull said that Ms Bishop, as deputy leader of the Liberals, was next in line after Mr Joyce to be acting prime minister.