Cory Bernardi has doubts it appears on Senator Canavan’s explanation.
"It's the 'dog ate my homework' excuse
Senator Canavan's former colleague Cory Bernardi, who now heads the Australian Conservatives, was sceptical that Senator Canavan would not have known about the Italian citizenship.
"Well, because it's a bit like the dog ate my homework, isn't it?" Senator Bernardi said.
"My father was Italian. We enquired into these citizenship matters many, many years ago and we found it was simply impossible to do as an adult, unless you were part of it yourself."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-26/senator-canavan-urged-to-resign-amid-citizenship-row/8746588
