Pauline Hanson has defended the eligibility of a One Nation senator and reignited a longstanding row with Fatima Payman amid calls by the Coalition to have the matter referred to the parliamentary privileges committee or even the High Court.
Questions were raised about senator Tyron Whitten’s eligibility following reporting by The Australian that alleged the West Australian senator still had shares in Whittens Group, a construction company involved in Snowy Hydro 2.0.
The paper reported that Senator Whitten, who co-founded the company with his brother, amended his register of interests in recent days to delete the Whittens Group as well as another item, the “Whittens Bros Investments Pty Limited”.
Pauline Hanson has defended the eligibility of senator Tyron Whitten. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
Nonetheless, the incident raised questions about Senator Whitten’s eligibility under section 44 of the constitution, which prohibits any direct or indirect financial interest in commonwealth projects or assets.
Responding to calls by senior Coalition members to have the matter referred to the High Court, sitting as a Court of Disputed Returns, Senator Hanson said “the gutless wonders in the Coalition” making the calls were “pure hypocrites”.
“The fact is, there is no question over Senator Whitten’s eligibility. Snowy Hydro is a public company, not a government department,” she said.
Instead, Senator Hanson sought to cast doubt over former Labor senator and current independent Fatima Payman, whose eligibility the One Nation leader had earlier questioned.
Senator Payman, who was born in Afghanistan, attempted to renounce her Afghan citizenship prior to the 2022 federal election; however, the Afghan embassy was unable to finalise the request following the takeover of the Taliban that Australia does not recognise.
Under section 44, dual nationals are not eligible to sit in parliament except in instances where they have taken all “reasonable steps” to renounce any other nationality.
Senator Fatima Payman, who was born in Afghanistan, attempted to renounce her citizenship prior to the 2022 federal election. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
In a social media post, Senator Hanson said: “The most questionable senator in parliament, Fatima Payman, holds Afghan citizenship. It’s a case that still needs investigation and an answer.
“I tried to have her qualification to sit in parliament under section 44 of the constitution referred for an inquiry.
“The hypocrites in the Coalition joined with Labor and the Greens to kill that inquiry and make sure she was never investigated.
“If the Coalition didn’t have double standards, they wouldn’t have any.
“I wish the Coalition would put as much effort into working together and fixing the country as they put into trying to take One Nation down.”
Fifteen sitting politicians were forced to resign in 2017-18 after they were found to be in breach of section 44 owing to oftentimes unknown dual citizenship eligibility or status.
The MPs were forced to recontest their seats.
