8 Aussie politician resigns over dual citizenship
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E-mail Xinhua, November 14, 2017
A Tasmanian Senator announced her resignation on Tuesday after being discovered that she was ineligible to be elected, the eighth parliamentarian to do so in an ongoing saga.
Jacqui Lambie, leader of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN), announced her resignation on Tuesday after being discovered that she holds a Scottish citizenship since her father were born there.
Anyone who is a citizen of a country other than Australia is ineligible to be elected to Australia's federal parliament under Section 44 (i) of the nation's constitution.
The High Court in October disqualified five Members of Parliament (MPs) for breaching Section 44 with two more having resigned since.
"It is with great regret that I have to inform you that I had been found ineligible by way of dual citizenship," Lambie told the Senate on Tuesday.
Lambie was first elected in 2013 for the now-disbanded Palmer United Party (PUP) before leaving the party and starting the JLN.
George Brandis, Australia's attorney-general and leader of the government in the Senate, thanked Lambie for the passion she brought to parliament.
"The Senate brings together people from all parts of Australia, from all walks of life, from all political philosophies, from all backgrounds, and it is the richer for it," Brandis said.
Lambie will be replaced by Steve Martin who was the next candidate on the JLN Senate ticket at the 2016 election.
She ruled out running in the upcoming Tasmanian election but said this would not be the end of her political career.
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