Malcolm Turnbull (Wentworth, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

What the honourable member for Hunter did was not ask me a question; he quoted a rhetorical question from Tony Windsor which was apparently addressed to the world at large. But I won't put him to the trouble of reformulating his question. The member for New England is entitled to sit in this parliament. He's a member of the House of Representatives, he's the Deputy Prime Minister, he's a minister in my cabinet and he's entitled to be so. That's the case. We've referred the matter to the High Court not because we lack any confidence in his eligibility to sit here but because the High Court can take the opportunity to provide some clarification on this section of the Constitution, which has limitations, clearly, as the High Court has described. It's not unlimited; it's not to be read literally. That's very, very clear, and at least one member opposite is taking advantage of case law in that regard. So it's a good opportunity for the High Court to provide some further clarification. As I've said before, based on the advice of the Solicitor-General, the government is very, very confident that the member for New England's eligibility to sit in this House will be confirmed.

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