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Industry and Science Minister Tim Ayres was a Canadian citizen for two weeks in December after that country changed its citizenship laws, in a potential breach of section 44 of the Constitution.
Ayres notified the federal parliament on Tuesday that, following a legal change late last year that extended Canadian citizenship eligibility to the grandchildren of people born in the country, he had involuntarily become a dual citizen.
The episode revived memories of the federal parliament’s so-called constitutional crisis in 2017. Starting in July that year, a number of senators and members were disqualified from sitting in the federal parliament because they had failed to renounce or were eligible to hold citizenship of a second country, which they had failed to renounce.
It eventually led to the disqualification of 15 MPs, including then-deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, now-Greens leader Larissa Waters and the current Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.
Prior to his election in 2019, Ayres took all possible steps to renounce his Canadian citizenship by descent, but was told at the time by the Canadian government that he had nothing to renounce as he was not eligible for citizenship.
But that changed in June last year when laws were introduced into the Canadian parliament to expand the right to citizenship, automatically, to anyone born to a Canadian parent and, in many cases, grandparent.
The Canadian parliament made the changes to its citizenship laws after a 2023 court decision found that the country’s laws, which limited citizenship by descent, were unconstitutional.
After the laws to reclaim so-called “lost Canadians” were introduced into the nation’s parliament in June 2025, but before they came into effect on December 15 last year, Ayres sought advice from the Canadian government about how to renounce his citizenship, but was told he could not pre-renounce his dual citizenship.
Ayres also took advice from senior counsel, who told him that he was still eligible to be a senator and minister because “the implied qualification to s 44(i) of the Australian Constitution recognised by the High Court would prevent a newly enacted foreign law from disqualifying a sitting member of the Australian parliament”.
Ayres’ lawyer also advised him to renounce his Canadian citizenship as quickly as possible, which he did.
It was not until Bill C-3, as the law is known, came into effect on December 15 that Ayres could renounce his Canadian citizenship. The very next day, he contacted the Canadian government and was advised that he could finally renounce his citizenship of that country.
The process took two weeks, according to a letter dated December 29 from the director-general of the Canadian passport office in Ottawa.
That letter states that “this document confirms that your application to renounce Canadian citizenship that was automatically conferred on you by operation of Canadian citizenship law was approved and you ceased to be a Canadian citizen on December 29, 2025”.
“As this document attests that you ceased to be a Canadian citizen, we suggest that you keep this document in a secure place for future reference.”
Ayres became a Canadian citizen because his grandfather was born in Canada in 1910, and was at that time a British subject. His grandfather later moved to Australia, and his father was born in Australia.
The law change conferred Canadian citizenship on his father and, retrospectively, on the minister when the law change took effect.
Ayres is one of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s most trusted lieutenants and a key powerbroker in the party’s left faction. He told this masthead that while grandfather was born in Canada, he had taken all steps possible to ensure before the 2019 and 2025 elections that he was only an Australian citizen and eligible to sit in parliament.
“In December 2025, Canada’s Bill C-3 came into effect. As soon as the new Canadian law received Royal Assent, I established as soon as was legally possible that I was solely an Australian citizen,” he said.
“The advice I have received from constitutional experts is clear: I have always been – and remain – eligible to sit in the parliament. I take my constitutional responsibilities seriously and today have made an addendum to my Qualification Checklist confirming that I remain not a Canadian citizen.”
Professor Anne Twomey, a constitutional law expert at the University of Sydney, said previous High Court cases related to dual citizenship had not dealt with “the unusual case of a person being validly elected, but then, against their will, having foreign citizenship conferred upon them, and immediately renouncing it”.
“If this matter came before a court, there would be a good case to argue that it fell within an exception from disqualification, just as an exception also arises where there is an irremediable impediment to renouncing foreign citizenship,” she said.
“In practical terms, it is unlikely to come before a court, because it could only get there if the Senate referred it. Doing so would have no advantage, other than clarifying the law, because the senator could simply resign and then fill the resulting vacancy, as he is no longer a Canadian citizen.”
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James Massola is chief political commentator. He was previously national affairs editor and South-East Asia correspondent. He has won Quill and Kennedy awards and been a Walkley finalist. Connect securely on Signal @jamesmassola.01Connect via X or email.From our partners
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