Sheldon strongly denied his dual nationality. (photo by Australian News Network)
The dual citizenship of lawmakers has escalated, and opposition leader Sheffield (Bill Shorten) has been revealed to have British citizenship. Schotton strongly denied the matter, but declined to provide supporting documents, saying he would not publish documents about his renunciation of British citizenship.
"I did give up British citizenship years ago," the opposition leader told reporters on Sunday, Australian News Network reported. I must say, I have no obligation to prove what I say, for I know it is true. " Under British law, an individual born between 1948 and January 1, 1983 and born to a native British citizen may automatically acquire British nationality unless he renounces. Sheldon`s father, a British citizen, reportedly gave up British citizenship in May 2006, indeed before the November 2007 general election.
Former Prime Minister Albert (Tony Abbott) also refused to release documents when he was questioned about dual citizenship at the beginning, but finally released last month, confirming that he did renounce British citizenship in 1993. As recently as the end of this week, independent MP Shanofeng (Nick Xenophon) was confirmed to have British citizenship because of his father`s relationship.
It is understood that Prime Minister Tan Po (Malcolm Turnbull) had proposed to the Labour Party to submit a joint opinion to the High Court on the dual nationality treatment of a number of politicians, but was rejected. So far, Schotton has proposed a "peace treaty" to the federal goverment on the matter, saying he is willing to talk to Tan Bao on the matter.
