'Business of government will go on' as Parry awaits citizenship clarification: Bishop

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The Acting Prime Minister reiterated the government still holds a majority in the Lower House of Parliament as it faces another embarrassing turn in the citizenship saga.

The Senate President Stephen Parry is waiting to hear back from the UK Home Office about his possible British citizenship through his father.

If it’s confirmed, he has signaled he will resign and will become the first Liberal casualty of the saga which recently ensnared seven other politicians.

“The business of the government will go on,” Ms Bishop told Channel Seven on Wednesday.

“I’d rather we didn’t have to face these challenges but we do, and we will deal with them.”

But she did not absolve Senator Parry for his oversight in not clearing his status sooner.

“Each member and senator has a responsibility to ensure that they are eligible to stand for Parliament,” she said.

“In the case of senators found in eligible, they will be replaced in an established process of either a casual vacancy or recount at the last election.”

The Attorney-General said yesterday it was unlikely there were any more Liberals with potential dual citizenships.

“Nobody else has come forward and I’ve not seen any evidence that any other member of Parliament has this problem,” George Brandis said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“It’s not yet clearly established that Senator Parry is disqualified.”

If Senator Parry does resign, he would create a casual vacancy for his Senate seat which would be filled by the next person on the Liberal Party’s Tasmanian Senate ticket.

Turnbull and Shorten dismiss citizenship audit calls

Labor and Coalition backbenchers have called for a full investigation into the backgrounds of every parliamentarian.

“We need to know, we need to be sure everyone’s there and they have eligibility,” Labor MP Meryl Swanson told the ABC on Wednesday.

“There can’t be one rule, instituted by the High Court no less, for some [and] others just mopping their brow thinking ‘Phew, we dodged that”.’

Nationals MP Llew O’Brien also told the ABC he “wouldn’t have an issue” with an audit if the public wanted it.

The Prime Minister and Opposition Leader are yet to warm to the idea of an audit.

In August, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull deferred questions on whether a citizenship audit was needed because the High Court was set to consider the fates of seven politicians over their dual citizenships.

“I think we should await the High Court’s deliberations,” he said in a press conference.

“The law will undoubtedly be clarified after their decision.”

In August, as speculation around the possible Ecuadorian citizenship of Labor Senator Katy Gallagher peaked, Bill Shorten would not commit to an audit.

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” he told reporters in the Queensland town of Bundaberg.

“Just because the Deputy Prime Minister, and just because Senator Canavan and just because Minister Nash haven’t got it right, doesn’t mean everyone else is automatically either a suspect or done something wrong.”

The Greens have maintained their calls for an immediate, independent audit of the backgrounds of every politician at the national level.