DÂN BIỂU ĐỘC LẬP GỐC VIỆT DAI LE BỊ ĐẢNG LAO ĐỘNG NÊU HOÀI NGHI MANG "SONG TỊCH" - NẾU MANG SONG TỊCH THÌ KHÔNG ĐƯỢC LÀM DÂN BIỂU QUỐC HỘI./-TCLãnh

Fowler independent Dai Le insists she is eligible to sit in parliament

By Heath Parkes-Hupton

Posted 17h ago

17 hours ago

13 hours ago

Dai Le secured victory with 52 per cent of the two-candidate preferred vote.(ABC News: Tim Swanston)

Newly-elected Fowler MP Dai Le has accused the Labor Party of "trying to smear" her after denying speculation citizenship issues could make her ineligible to sit in parliament.Section 44 of the Australian Constitution disqualifies dual citizens from office  

Labor had held the seat of Fowler for 12 years

Ms Le called the questions into her eligibility a "smear"

Ms Le, a refugee born in Vietnam, won the south-west Sydney seat from Labor and its high-profile candidate Kristina Keneally.

Fowler was a previously safe Labor seat and the 16 point swing the party suffered against it has been attributed to the decision to parachute Ms Keneally in as their candidate.

On Wednesday, questions were raised over whether the independent Ms Le had incorrectly stated on her Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) declaration form that she had never been a subject or citizen of another country.

"Over the last few days, the Labor Party has been trying to smear me and try to damage my reputation, dragging my family including my son into stories," Ms Le said on social media.

"This morning there have been extensive media enquiries in relation to my eligibility to satisfy Section 44 of the Australian Constitution to stand for election.

"I can confirm that the AEC accepted my application to stand for the Federal Election and that I'm not a subject or a citizen of another country, and was not when I lodged my nomination form with the AEC prior to the close of the nomination."

Ms Le, a former ABC journalist, was born in the now dissolved nation of South Vietnam before moving to Australia at age 11.

Dai Le with her mother and sisters.(Supplied: Dai Le)

Federal parliament is no stranger to citizenship issues.

Following the 2016 election, more than a dozen senators and MPs were revealed as being unwitting dual citizens during a period of chaos in Canberra.

It started when Greens senator Scott Ludlam resigned after learning he was a citizen of both Australia and New Zealand.

That sparked a series of High Court referrals as other parliamentarians came forward with their own citizenship issues.

Then-deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce was forced to recontest his seat in a by-election after it was revealed he was also a citizen of New Zealand.

Anne Twomey, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sydney, said under the Australian constitution anyone who is a subject or citizen of another country "is incapable of being chosen as a member of parliament"./-