Opposition leader Bill Shorten adamant he is not a British citizen
BILL Shorten has asked Australians to take him at his word 
that he gave up his British citizenship before entering parliament as he today moved to quash speculation over his own eligibility issues.
But the Opposition leader, whose father was born in northern England,
says won’t be releasing the documents which confirm his status.
It comes after independent senator Nick Xenophon referred himself to the High Court after he learned he was a citizen of the British colonies courtesy of his Cyprus-born father.
Mr Shorten’s late father, William, was born in 1929 in South Shields near Newcastle, Durham.
Any person born between 1948 and January 1, 1983 to a father who was a British citizen by birth is themselves a British citizen until they renounce.
“I did renounce my citizenship many years ago,” Mr Shorten said.
“Because one thing you’re taught when you’re a candidate running for parliament is that check, if your parents are born overseas or your grandparents, check that you mightn’t through virtue of your parents become a citizen of another country.
“I have to say: I don’t feel any obligation to justify what I just said (not being a British citizen), because I know it to be true.
Mr Shorten today rejected suggestions Labor had anything to do with revealing Senator Xenophon’s British citizenship.
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