THE Border’s two federal MPs have officially declared their citizenship status, with Nigerian-born Sussan Ley telling parliament she had renounced her British roots.
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Ms Ley and Cathy McGowan were asked to register their Australian credentials with parliament due to the citizenship cloud over national politics.
In her declaration, Ms Ley included a letter from the British High Commission stating “you ceased to be a British citizen on 6 June 2001”.
Ms Ley was elected in November 2001.
“The only possible dual citizenship I could have is British,” Ms Ley wrote in her form to parliament.
“I renounced this prior to nominating for Parliament.”
Ms Ley stated she could have only been a Nigerian citizen by descent if her parents were and neither of them have been.
Ms McGowan’s parents and both sets of grandparents were all Australian-born with a grandpa born at Rutherglen in 1898 and a grandma at Wodonga in 1888.