July 18, 2017
Greens Senator for Queensland Larissa Waters announced on Tuesday she was quitting Parliament due to citizenship issues – the second Greens Senator to resign in less than a week.
Senator Waters, who was elected at the 2010 poll and then re-elected in 2016, was born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1977.
Her Australian parents were studying overseas at the time.
She returned to Australia as a baby and grew up in Brisbane.
Senator Waters released the following statement on Tuesday afternoon:
“It is with great shock and sadness that I have discovered that I hold dual citizenship of Australia and Canada. As people would know after the recent departure of my dear friend and former colleague Scott Ludlam, Section 44 of the Australian Constitution means I cannot hold office in the Federal Parliament.
“I left Canada as a baby, born to Australian parents studying and working briefly in Canada before they returned home. I have lived my life thinking that as a baby I was naturalised to be Australian and only Australian, and my parents told me that I had until age 21 to actively seek Canadian citizenship. At 21, I chose not to seek dual citizenship, and I have never even visited Canada since leaving at 11 months old.
“However after Scott’s shock discovery, I immediately sought legal advice, and was devastated to learn that because of 70-year-old Canadian laws I had been a dual citizen from birth, and that Canadian law changed a week after I was born and required me to have actively renounced Canadian citizenship.
“I had not renounced since I was unaware that I was a dual citizen. Obviously this is something that I should have sought advice on when I first nominated for the Senate in 2007, and I take full responsibility for this grave mistake and oversight. I am deeply sorry for the impact that it will have.
“It is with a heavy heart that I am forced to resign as Senator for Queensland and Co-Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens, effective today.
“I apologise wholeheartedly to all those who have supported me and helped me to become a representative for the wonderful people of Queensland over the last six years.”
Senator Waters has been an outspoken opponent against Moreton Resources’ proposed coal mine in Kingaroy.
Last year, she supported the Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group’s call for the State Government to buy back Moreton’s mining exploration permit.
“The Greens congratulate the Kingaroy Concerned Citizens Group for the action they have taken to protect their community from a coal mine on their doorstep,” Senator Waters said.
“We must not sacrifice our farmland, groundwater or the health of our rural communities for short-sighted, economically risky and environmentally destructive coal mining.
“Having a dirty great coal mine so close to a residential area would mean that the local community could suffer serious health impacts from pollution and coal dust.”
Last Friday, West Australian Greens Senator Scott Ludlam resigned after it was revealed he still held New Zealand citizenship despite being naturalised along with his parents as a child.
Senator Waters and Senator Ludlam were both Co-Deputy Leaders of the Greens, serving under party leader Senator Dr Richard di Natale, who – fortunately for Greens party officials – was born in Melbourne.
- Related article: Greens Back Kingaroy Mine Protest
