CANBERRA, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Seven members of Australian Parliament failing to find out and disclose that they are dual citizens are facing the High Court in Canberra on Tuesday in a hearing set to determine their political future.
After months of speculation surrounding the political future of seven members of Parliament including Deputy Prime Minster Barnaby Joyce, the High Court will, over the next three days, deliberate as to whether or not they may continue their careers in the federal Parliament.
Under Section 44 of the Australian constitution, any person who is "under any acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or citizen of a foreign power" may not run for a federal seat.
Greens Senator Scott Ludlam was the first to find out that he was a dual-citizen of both Australia and New Zealand and announced his resignation from the Senate on July 14 this year.
Not long after, fellow Greens Senator Larissa Waters also resigned due to being a dual Australian-Canadian citizen.
The announcement sent shockwaves through Canberra at the time, with many members of Parliament and Senators scrambling to find out if they were unwitting dual-citizens, something Ludlam and Waters both claimed at the time.
The wash-up proved costly for the governing Malcolm Turnbull government which holds just a one-seat majority in the Lower House. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was also found to be a dual-citizen of Australia and News Zealand. If the High Court finds him guilty, he may be booted from Parliament, forcing a by-election in his seat of New England.
Also under investigation are two of the government's Senate seats, with Nationals Senators Fiona Nash and Matt Canavan also declaring they were in breach of Section 44.
Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts are also facing the hearing, though Xenophon has already declared he was quitting federal politics to contest in the state of South Australia.
The High Court will hear a similar defence for all contesting their potential disqualification, and that is that they were unaware that they were dual-citizens.
The hearing begins on Tuesday and will last three days before a verdict is handed down.
