Extracted from the Journals of the Senate
On 13 November 2017, the Senate resolved:
1
That not later than 5 pm on Friday, 1 December 2017 (and within 21 days of making and subscribing an oath or affirmation as a Senator) each Senator shall provide to the Registrar of Senators’ Interests a statement containing the following:
a.
a declaration by the Senator that, at the time the Senator nominated for election to the Senate in this 45th Parliament he or she was an Australian citizen;
b.
a declaration that the Senator is not a citizen of any country other than Australia;
c.
a declaration stating:
the place and date of the Senator’s birth;
the citizenship that the Senator held at the time of birth; and
if he or she did not obtain Australian citizenship at birth, the date he or she was naturalised as an Australian citizen;
d.
so far as the Senator is aware:
the place and date of birth of the Senator’s parents and grandparents;
e.
whether the Senator has ever been a citizen of another country and if so which country or countries;
f.
what steps the Senator has taken to assure him or herself that they have not inherited citizenship of another country from a parent or grandparent;
g.
if the Senator has answered the question in paragraph (e) in the affirmative, then provide details and evidence of the date and manner in which the Senator’s citizenship of that other country was renounced (if it was renounced) or the date and manner in which it came to an end in accordance with the laws of that other country;
h.
if the Senator’s citizenship of that other country had not come to an end at the date of his or her nomination for the Senate, detail and provide evidence of any steps the Senator has taken to renounce the citizenship of that other country prior to the date of nomination; and
i.
if the Senator has declared that he or she was at the time of nomination or is now a citizen of a country other than Australia, on what basis the Senator contends that he or she is, nonetheless, not disqualified under section 44(i).
2
If at any time the Senator becomes aware that information provided in their statement is no longer accurate they shall update their statement as soon as practicable but not later than 21 days of being so aware.
3
Statements shall be made in accordance with this resolution and in a form determined by the Committee of Senators’ Interests. The Registrar shall, in accordance with procedures determined by the committee, maintain a Citizenship Register comprising statements provided under this resolution. Other than as specifically provided for in this resolution, the committee has the same powers and functions in relation to the citizenship register as it does in relation to the Register of Senator’s Interests.
4
The Registrar shall, upon the expiry of the time for providing statements under this resolution, and at other times determined by the committee, publish the register and any alterations or additions to the register on the Parliament’s website.
a.
knowingly fails to provide the statement and evidence required by this resolution to the Registrar of Senators’ Interests by the due date; or
b.
knowingly fails to correct an inaccuracy in his or her statement within the required timeframe; or
c.
knowingly provides false or misleading information to the Registrar of Senators’ Interests;
shall be guilty of a serious contempt of the Senate and shall be dealt with by the Senate accordingly, but the question whether any senator has committed such a serious contempt shall first be referred to the Privileges Committee for inquiry and report.