CANBERRA, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday expressed his disappointment in outgoing Senate President Stephen Parry for not admitting earlier that he was also a British citizen.
Parry, a senator representing Tasmania, handed his resignation to Australian Governor- General Peter Cosgrove on Thursday after earlier confirming that he held British citizenship, rendering him ineligible to serve in Australia's parliament.
Parry was the sixth Australian parliamentarian to fall victim to the citizenship saga sweeping the nation's political landscape and the first from Turnbull's Liberal Party. His father was born in Britain.
The other five were disqualified from parliament by the High Court in October, a process that Parry did not volunteer to go through.
"I'm disappointed that Senator Parry didn't make public this issue some time ago, quite some time ago," Turnbull told Australian reporters in Israel, where he is on an official visit, in the early hours of Thursday morning (Australian time).
"He chose to delay his reporting of it, he should have reported it much earlier, and it could have been referred to the High Court together with the other matters that were dealt with."
Turnbull maintained his stance that an audit of all parliamentarians was unnecessary, saying that politicians had a responsibility to ensure they were eligible to be elected.
Parry's resignation will prompt a re-count of Tasmanian senate votes from the 2016 federal election to determine his replacement.
