Citizenship saga: Jacqui Lambie and Skye Kakoschke-Moore Senate replacements will come at a cost to taxpayers
A WAR is brewing over Jacqui Lambie’s Senate replacement as another senator will make a strange bid to return, while taxpayers are set to foot the bill.
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TAXPAYERS will foot the bill for a legal fight brewing over who should replace Jacqui Lambie and Skye Kakoschke-Moore in the senate after they resigned over citizenship issues.
And in a bizarre twist, Ms Kakoschke-Moore is making a bid to replace herself and return to the Senate, despite being ousted for holding British citizenship at the time of the last election.
Her lawyer is arguing that she should be included in the recount because the only challenger, Tim Storer, has left the Nick Xenophon Team since the election.
It is being argued that Mr Storer should not receive NXT votes if he doesn’t represent the party as that would go against the wishes of the South Australian voters.
The team will make the case that, as Ms Kakoschke-Moore has since renounced her foreign citizenship, she should be allowed to be part of the recount.
Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue today agreed the Commonwealth Government would pay legal costs for Mr Storer and Ms Kakoschke-Moore, as well as two potential replacements for former Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie.
Steve Martin is slated to replace Ms Lambie as the next Jacqui Lambie Network person on the ticket but could himself be disqualified for holding an office of profit under the crown.
If McCulloch claimed Ms Lambie’s seat, it would boost One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s power in the Senate back to four votes. While new Senator Fraser Anning is still technically a One Nation senator, he is acting as an independent after a dispute with Senator Hanson.
Both Ms Lambie and former Senate President Stephen Parry were officially declared dual citizens by the High Court today.
A special recount will be held next week to decide both their replacements on Tuesday.
A High Court directions hearing into what happens regarding Ms Lambie’s replacement will then take place on Wednesday.
The Solicitor-General requested that the High Court return from its break early to hear Ms Kakoschke-Moore’s case in the last week of January given it was a matter of public interest to have the senate replacement decided as soon as possible.
Both the High Court and Parliament are scheduled to resume sitting on February 5.
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