By Mario Xuereb
Steve Schembri and his wife, Lillian, lost their Australian citizenship when they returned to Malta from Melbourne in the 1980s.
Mr Schembri was required to renounce his Australian citizenship to retain Maltese citizenship. At the time, both Malta and Australia banned dual citizenship.
Because Australian law provides that only people under 25 can reclaim citizenship they renounced in order to retain a foreign nationality, the Schembris are barred from becoming Aussies again.
The Federal Government has moved to fix the problem but has so far failed to pass the relevant bill.
The Australian Citizenship Bill was introduced into parliament in 2005 but has so far languished without debate for more than a year.
If passed the law would allow former citizens who renounced their Australian citizenship to resume it.
Mr Schembri, a father of three, met Labor’s citizenship spokeswoman Annette Hurley and Gorton MP Brendan O’Connor last week to discuss the delay.
Mr Schembri fears the bill could be further held up as the Howard Government contemplates changes to Australian citizenship eligibility.
“Unfortunately for us there is a whole lot of discussion about the (English-language test) and extending the waiting time for citizenship,” he said.
“But (Ms Hurley) said she would bring the matter to the Senate’s attention and try to get these amendments through.”
Mr Schembri, in Australia on a business visa, said the law discriminated against Maltese.
“The effect of this law is that all other people who gave up Australian citizenship are entitled to get it back,” he said.
“But those who had to renounce citizenship in order to retain (another) cannot and there’s only one group affected – the Maltese.”
Mr Schembri said around 3000 people were affected by the law.
