Page:Re Canavan.pdf/47

Kiefel CJ

Bell J

Gageler J

Keane J

Nettle J

Gordon J

Edelman J

mother for yourself and for your brother and sister as well" and that his name also appeared in the list of Italians eligible to vote abroad. Senator Canavan was informed that the registration had been received by the Municipality of Lozzo di Cadore on 18 January 2007. A copy of the request was attached to the letter. It is contained in a pro forma document described as "Form for Registration in Register of Italians Resident Abroad – A.I.R.E.". The form provided for the inclusion of information about adult children residing with the registrant. In this section the names and personal details of Senator Canavan's younger sister and brother were set out. In a further section headed "information about married children or who do not reside with you" Senator Canavan's name and personal details were set out. The form was signed by Senator Canavan's mother and dated 15 June 2006.

79 On 31 July 2017, Senator Canavan wrote to the Italian Consulate in Brisbane stating that he was seeking advice on his status and that "[r]egardless of the legitimacy of my Italian citizenship" he wished to renounce any citizenship or registration he had with the Italian government. On 7 August 2017, Senator Canavan attended the Italian Embassy in Canberra and formally renounced any Italian citizenship. The renunciation took effect from 8 August 2017.

80 The evidence of Italian citizenship law is contained in the joint report of Maurizio Delfino and Professor Beniamino Caravita di Toritto ("the joint report"), both of whom are practising Italian lawyers. From the joint report it emerges that Senator Canavan's status, if any, as an Italian citizen does not arise from any step taken by his mother in 2006 but rather from the circumstance that his maternal grandmother had not renounced her Italian citizenship at the date of his mother's birth. At the time of Senator Canavan's mother's birth the fact that her mother was an Italian citizen did not confer Italian citizenship on her. Under a law enacted in 1912 ("the 1912 law") only the child of a father who was an Italian citizen became an Italian citizen by birth. Senator Canavan's mother was born in October 1955, a month after her father was naturalised as an Australian citizen. An Italian citizen who acquired the citizenship of a foreign country and who took up residence in the foreign country automatically lost his or her Italian citizenship. At the time of her birth Senator Canavan's mother was an Australian citizen and only an Australian citizen. When Senator Canavan was born in 1980 he was an Australian citizen and only an Australian citizen.

81 The joint report explains that in 1983 the Italian Constitutional Court declared provisions of the 1912 law unconstitutional to the extent that they