Senior Labor ministers are facing a grilling over claims unnamed ministerial colleagues are questioning whether the citizenship of Fatima Payman would affect her ability to remain in the senate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fallout over her decision to defect to the senate crossbench has sparked reports in The Australian that some senior ministers are claiming the former refugee\u2019s Afghani and Australian citizenship could put her in breach of Section 44 of the Constitution, which states foreign and dual citizens cannot sit in parliament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to media on Friday, NDIS Minister Bill Shorten, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Education Jason Clare swerved questions about concerns of Senator Payman\u2019s political eligibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ms Gallagher said she had \u201cno understanding\u201d of the issues, and was unaware of the claims from fellow members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a person that\u2019s gone through a section 44 process, the ALP\u2019s vetting processes are pretty tight these days, but I have no idea where that story is coming from,\u201d she told the ABC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mr Clare also attempted to distance himself from the claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI honestly don\u2019t know the answer to that,\u201d Mr Clare told Channel 7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFatima\u2019s been elected to the Senate, I presume she\u2019ll continue to serve in the Senate as an independent senator.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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