(1) Between 1964 and 2000 is he able to say whether the Government of Malta required young people of Maltese descent to renounce their Australian citizenship before their 19th birthday in order to retain their Maltese citizenship; if so, how many Australians took formal action to renounce their Australian citizenship during this period.

(2) What loss of Maltese entitlements did these young people face if they did not renounce their Australian citizenship in accordance with this requirement.

(3) What specific requirements must those referred to in part (1) meet in order to have Australian citizenship restored to them.

(4) How many of those referred to in part (1) have formally applied to resume Australian citizenship and of these, how many applications (a) have been approved, (b) have been rejected and (c) are still under consideration.

(1) It is my understanding that prior to 10 February 2000 a person who held Maltese citizenship by descent and the citizenship of a foreign country were required by Maltese law to make a choice as to which citizenship they wished to retain. This choice had to be made between their eighteenth and nineteenth birthday. If the person did not renounce their foreign citizenship they automatically lost their Maltese citizenship.

The Department's database, which collects statistics on renunciation of Australian citizenship, does not contain complete information on the nationalities of each applicant who has renounced their Australian citizenship. The number of Maltese who renounced their Australian citizenship is therefore not available.

(2) I understand that Maltese citizens were entitled to the following services, which Australian citizens living in Malta prior to 2000 were not entitled:

· Free tertiary education and a stipend from the government of Malta.

· Access to employment in occupations such as the public service, banks, armed forces and legal professions. Foreign passport holders were required pay a fee each year to obtain a licence to work.

· Ability to purchase any property. Foreign passport holders are required to obtain a permit to purchase property and may only purchase property above a minimum value.

· Ability to own more than one property at any time.

· Eligible to apply for less expensive house and land packages.

· Eligible to apply for subsidised rental or purchase of property.

· Entitled to have more than one bank account and not required to identify the source of each deposit of funds into that account.

· Easier access to credit card facilities.

· Easier access to bank loans, a longer period over which to pay off the loan and access to a lower interest rate on the loan, and

· Access to social security benefits for themselves and their foreign passport holder spouse. (Foreign passport holders who are not married to Maltese citizens are not eligible for some social security benefits).

My Department does not possess details of any variations to these entitlements, which only Maltese citizens were able to claim, which may have occurred over the period 1964 and 2000.

(3) Adults who have renounced Australian citizenship in order to retain another citizenship, such as the case with those people who held Maltese citizenship, can apply to acquire Australian citizenship by grant. They must wait at least 12 months from the time they lost their Australian citizenship to apply to acquire it and must meet the criteria for grant of Australian citizenship. That is:

· be of good character;

· possess a basic knowledge of English;

· have an adequate knowledge of the responsibilities and privileges of Australian citizenship; and if granted citizenship,

· be likely to reside or continue to reside in Australia or to maintain a close and continuing association with Australia.

While they must have been present in Australia as a permanent resident for 12 months in the two years immediately before lodging their application for the grant of citizenship they are not required to meet the two years in Australia in the past 5 years provision.

Under the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 there is currently no provision for a person who renounced their Australian citizenship in order to retain another citizenship to apply to resume their Australian citizenship.

However, following the passage of the Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment Bill 2002 through both houses of parliament, from the date of proclamation, those people who renounced their Australian citizenship in order to retain another citizenship will have the capacity to apply to resume their Australian citizenship up to the age of 25 years. The criteria for resumption in this circumstance is the same as the current resumption provisions with the exception that applicants are not required to state that they did not know that they would lose their Australian citizenship.

The current provisions for resumption of Australian citizenship for an adult who has lost Australian citizenship by taking some action to acquire another citizenship are as follows.

The first requirement is that the person:

· did not know that they would lose Australian citizenship; or

· would have suffered significant hardship or detriment had they not acquired the other citizenship or, if the significant hardship or detriment were of an economic nature, the circumstances that caused them to take out foreign citizenship must be compelling.

The other requirements are that the person:

· has been lawfully resident in Australia for a total of at least two years in their life; and

· states that they intend to continue to reside in Australia or intend to commence residing in Australia within three years; and

· have maintained a close and continuing association with Australia.

A child under 18 years of age may be able to resume Australian citizenship by being included in a parent's application for resumption.

(4) Schedule 2 of the Australian Citizenship Legislation Amendment Bill 2002 will be proclaimed on 1 July 2002. There have, therefore, been no applications from Maltese citizens, seeking to resume their Australian citizenship under these new provisions.

No statistics are kept on those Maltese citizens who have reacquired their Australian citizenship by grant between 1964 and 2001 after previously renouncing their Australian citizenship. It is, however, estimated that approximately 37,000 Maltese citizens were granted Australian citizenship between January 1965 and June 2001.