- Ecauador’s former president claims Katy Gallagher is ‘no doubt’ Ecuadorian
- Hernan Perez Loose said her mother was born in Ecuador, making her a citizen
- Senator Gallagher previously said she has ‘never been an Ecuadorian citizen’
- It comes after several Senators have been caught out for being dual citizens
The latest politician embroiled in a dual-citizenship saga is likely to be an Ecuadorian citizen.
According to the country’s former president, Hernan Perez Loose, there is ‘no doubt’ Labor Senator Katy Gallagher was an Ecuadorian national, reports The New Daily.
Mr Hernan claims that if the basic biographical information Senator Gallagher put on record, then she would be an Ecuadorian citizen.
Hernan Perez Loose claims there is ‘no doubt’ Labor Senator Katy Gallagher (pictured) was an Ecuadorian national
The initial claim was based on Senator Gallagher’s mother’s arrival card to Australia (pictured)
The former president believed because Senator Gallagher was born in Australia in 1970 and her mother was born in Ecuador in 1943 (where her mother is a British national), making it likely the Senator was Ecuadorian national by birth.
Mr Hernan said the Senator’s mother was Ecuadorian by birth since the 1929 constitution, which means those born in the country gain the nationality as do their children.
The initial claim was based on Senator Gallagher’s mother’s arrival card to Australia, showing she was born in the South American country.
Until recently, the labor party had escaped any dual citizenship qualms.
The Senator’s citizenship status was investigated when she was nominated for the senate as part of an initial vetting process.
‘As a result of these investigations it was determined that I had not obtained Ecuadorian citizenship by descent from my mother,’ Senator Gallagher previously said in a statement.
‘I am not and had never been an Ecuadorian citizen.’
Senator Gallegher has previously said ‘I am not and had never been an Ecuadorian citizen’
A News Corp report earlier this week cast doubts over her eligibility to be in the Senate.
Over the past month, the citizenship issue has caught out several senators as well as Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.
Under section 44 of the Australian constitution, a person is incapable of being elected to the parliament if they are a ‘citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power’.