Pauline Hanson has raised questions over Senator Fatima Payman’s eligibility to run for parliament due to her Afghani citizenship, and has demanded she refer herself to the High Court.
The One Nation leader wrote a letter to Anthony Albanese on Wednesday citing concerns over Senator Payman’s dual citizenship, which could disqualify her from running for government under section 44 of the Constitution.
Ms Payman’s family escaped Taliban-ruled Afghanistan when she was a child, eventually settling in Perth. She became an Australian citizen in 2005, but was not able to renounce her foreign citizenship due to ongoing conflict in Afghanistan.
In her 2022 register of qualifications statement, she said that she had sought legal advice confirming that she was eligible to sit in the Senate because she had taken reasonable steps to address the citizenship issue.
Senator Hanson posted the letter on X just hours after Ms Payman announced the launch of her own political party, Australia’s Voice.
She acknowledged Ms Payman’s prior struggles renouncing her Afghani citizenship, but asked whether there had been opportunities since 2022 to resolve the situation.
‘The courts have established that, if an individual has taken all reasonable measures to renounce their foreign citizenship, they may negate the implications of holding dual citizenship,’ Ms Hanson wrote.
Senator Fatima Payman is pictured during a press conference on Wednesday
Pauline Hanson wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, citing concerns over Senator Fatima Payman’s foreign citizenship
‘Senator Payman has cited the conflict in Afghanistan at the time of her nomination as a barrier to renouncing her citizenship.
‘While this may be a valid concern, it raises the question of whether the opportunity to renounce her citizenship has since arisen and if she is obliged to take reasonable steps to do so.’
Ms Hanson told Mr Albanese she proposed a bipartisan approach to clarify the issue, urging Ms Payman to refer herself to the High Court.
‘Should she decline to do so, I believe it is the Senate’s responsibility to initiate the referral,’ she continued.
‘The integrity of our electoral system is paramount. I urge you to consider this matter seriously and take appropriate action to safeguard our constitutional framework.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ms Payman for comment.
The Western Australian senator resigned from the Labor Party and joined the crossbench in July due to irreconcilable differences with the party over the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Rather than resigning her seat, she chose to stay in Parliament as an independent.
On Wednesday, she formally announced her new party ‘for the disenfranchised’, which will contest the Senate race in every state, along with marginal lower house seats.
Dual citizens normally aren’t allowed to run for parliament in Australia. Senator Payman is pictured in the Senate in August
Pictured: The letter One Nation leader Pauline Hanson wrote to Anthony Albanese on Wednesday
‘Australians are fed up with the major parties having a duopoly, a stranglehold over our democracy,’ she said during a press conference.
‘If we need to drag the two major parties kicking and screaming to do what needs to be done, we’ll do it.’
She said Australia’s Voice would be aimed at people who were disillusioned with the two major parties, and who feel unheard.
The senator said her policies would be revealed in time, but she singled out abolishing negative gearing, dealing with the cost of living and education as some of her party’s priorities.
‘So many of you have told me with emotions in your hearts, we need something different,’ she said.
‘We need a voice. It is this cry for change that has brought us here today. Because we can no longer sit by while our voices are drowned out by the same old politics. It’s time to stand up, to rise together and to take control of our future.
‘Australia’s Voice believes in a system where people come first … We reject the status quo that serves the powerful and forgets the people.’
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