Malcolm Turnbull quietly double checks if Tony Abbott is still a British citizen

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The Prime Minister made a short phone call to his British counterpart this afternoon to double check if Tony Abbott is still a British passport holder in the wake of the Scott Ludlam controversy.

Malcolm Turnbull spoke briefly with British leader Theresa May to see if the British-born former Prime Minister of Australia had ever thrown his burgundy passport in the bin after it was discovered that Greens MP Scott Ludlum was still a New Zealand citizen – something that constitutionally rules him out of holding public office.

“It was worth a shot,” said Turnbull, speaking to The Advocate via Wickr.

“I mean, he’s made a lot of mistakes in the past. He might’ve still had a British passport in the junk drawer. That’s where I look when I need something like nail scissors or sticky tape,”

“Turns out he didn’t have one, which was a shame.”

Abbott was born in London on the 4th November 1957 and emigrated to Australia as a two-and-half-year-old.

He renounced his British citizenship in 1993.

More to come.