Citizenship bill likely to be challenged in the High Court

The federal government has criticised the citizenship legal draft and indicated the possibility of it being challenged in the High Court.

The Australian Citizenship Amendment Bill 2015 advocates that in case a terrorism suspect is found to have dual citizenship, the Australian citizenship will be taken away from him. The citizenship bill was supposed to pass in the lower house of the parliament this week, but it was delayed because of a last-minute change made on Wednesday.

The legislation was not found up-to-the-mark by many as it was believed to be constitutionally unsound. The Labor Party already warned the government earlier that it would not shoulder any responsibility if the bill was challenged in the highest court of the nation. The opposition agreed to support the bill when the federal government supported 27 recommendations from the bipartisan report of the Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, according to SBS.

Legal experts have already warned the government of the possibility of the bill to be challenged in the High Court, while the government was confident enough that the bill would successfully withstand all legal challenges.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Thursday that a technical change was to be made to the bill after the advice received from the solicitor-general. The federal government aims at ensuring there is no challenge posed to the bill to higher courts, which has considerable possibility. Dutton told reporters in Canberra that Australia has a stronger bill to defend.

“The Government believes very strongly that this Bill – which does not render people stateless – but does say to dual nationals that if you have engaged in terrorist activities then that conduct means that you have breached your allegiance with our country and we will do whatever it takes, within the law, to try and keep our country safe,” the minister of immigration said two weeks ago.

“There are recommendations that have been made by the Joint Standing Committee, by the Intelligence Committee. The Government has accepted those recommendations.”

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that it would support the government in ensuring the bill gets passed.

Contact the writer at feedback@ibtimes.com.au, or let us know what you think below.