Mehreen Faruqi says Australian politicians shouldn't have to give up citizenship in other countries

Section 44 of Australia's constitution means dual citizens can't run for federal parliament. Here, two Senators affected by the law share their stories.

Mehreen Faruqi came to Australia from Pakistan. Source: AAP, Supplied, SBS

Mehreen Faruqi gave up her Pakistani citizenship to stand for parliament and says it’s something no one else should have to go through.

“I filled out the form, I signed it, and I put it in my drawer. It was that hard for me to actually submit that form, ” she told the SBS Our House podcast.

The Deputy Greens leader arrived in Australia from Pakistan in 1992 with her husband and son.

Mehreen Faruqi with her son Osman in 1992 after arriving in Sydney. Source: Supplied

She worked as a civil engineer and university lecturer in Sydney before joining the Greens in NSW Parliament a decade later.

Senator Faruqi says the process of renouncing her dual citizenship was harder than she thought it would be, and almost made her reconsider.

“As I was filling out that form, writing out the history of my family — you have to talk about your parents and your grandparents,” she said.

“I just felt as if I was being forced to give up my birthright, you know, to give up my history and my culture.”

Section 44 ‘restricting’ diversity

Australia’s parliament is its most diverse yet, but there’s still an under-representation of non-Anglo and European representatives.

Critics such as Senator Faruqi believe the rules are stopping others from diverse backgrounds making the same journey into politics.

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SBS Our House: Mehreen Faruqi

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31/07/202216:20

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“There is absolutely no reason to have this particular law in our Constitution, Section 44 has to go,” she said.

“It actually restricts people from participating in democracy.”

Mehreen Faruqi setting up her PhD experiments at UNSW in the 1990s. Source: Supplied

Constitutional law expert at UNSW, Professor George Williams, says the law is at odds with a modern Australia.

“Perhaps more than a hundred years ago we were concerned about our defence secrets being sold to another country because you’re a citizen of a foreign power.”

“Nobody would see that as a viable concern today.”

‘Important to show your allegiance’

New WA Labor Senator Fatima Payman also had to renounce her citizenship from Afghanistan before she could run for parliament.

“It was devastating. Even though I arrived in Australia as an eight-year-old,” she said.

“It was that sort of part of my identity that I was like — I’ve gotta let go of this cultural aspect of what I identify as.”

But she believes the rules should remain as they are.

“I feel like it's really important to show your allegiance to the nation that you're representing.”

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SBS Our House: Fatima Payman

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07/08/202216:11

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Senator Payman fled Afghanistan with her family and arrived in Australia as a refugee. Her father had come to Australia by boat a few years earlier, seeking asylum.

She’s the first parliamentarian to wear a hijab in the chamber, and one of its youngest representatives.

Fatima Payman (right) with her family. Source: Facebook / Fatima Payman

Renouncing her citizenship under the Taliban regime, she says, also presented unique challenges.

“When I was trying to renounce, it was quite a tedious process [as] weren't any official bodies in Afghanistan who would actually process the application.”

But after seeking help from the Afghan embassy, the Senator says that issue was eventually resolved and is adamant the rules didn’t deter her from running.

“I call Australia home and there's no way I would ever go back. But it's also, you know, it's just part of protocol. And I respect that.”

Labor Senator Fatima Payman in the Senate chamber during the opening of the 47th Federal Parliament at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, July 26, 2022. Source: AAP / MICK TSIKAS

The history of Section 44

Section 44 is a broad rule in the Constitution which sets out a candidate’s criteria for eligibility.

It includes individuals sentenced to more than one year in jail, Australians who are bankrupt or insolvent, and dual citizens.

It came into the spotlight in 2017, after several MPs, including Labor Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, were expelled from Parliament for being dual nationals.

Laws around parliamentary eligibility are different around the world.

Professor Williams says Australia’s laws are stricter than those in other nations.

“It’s common to say you should be a citizen of the country, but commonly [other] nations don’t strike you out if you’ve got dual nationality.”

In the UK, you don’t even have to be a citizen to stand for public office.

“You can be a British citizen, but you can even be a Commonwealth citizen in that case, and it’s much more liberal,” said Professor Williams.

To change Section 44, like anything else in the Constitution, would require a referendum.

The government is in the process of designing a referendum question, to be put to the Australian people, about enshrining an Indigenous Voice to Parliament in the Constitution.

Since Federation in 1901, just eight of 44 referendums have passed.

The SBS Our House podcast meets the politicians in Australia’s new federal parliament - the country's most diverse yet. Listen here.

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