Senate asked to refer One Nation politician’s eligibility to sit in parliament to the High Court

THE very institution that we trust with keeping Australia running is in turmoil as the High Court is called in to decide on who should even be there.

Pauline Hanson and Rod Culleton (right) gather for photos in Parliament.

A SECOND senator could have his credentials to sit in Parliament removed by the High Court in an extraordinary run of legal doubts.

Western Australian One Nation senator Rod Culleton could be turfed by the court because he has been convicted of an offence punishable by a jail sentence of a year or longer.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mr Culleton acknowledged there was a “dark cloud” over his position following a “good old punch up” but said the fight to stay in Parliament was “right up my veggie patch”.

This follows the plight of was-he-or-wasn’t-he senator Bob Day who quit the Senate yesterday amid concerns he could have breached the Constitution by having a business arrangement with the Commonwealth.

Mr Day has denied he crossed the constitutional line and has provided documents to support his case. But the court might find he had sat in the Senate for more than two years illegally.

Today, Attorney-General George Brandis revealed he had obtained a legal opinion on Mr Culleton, related to proceedings against him in the High Court by a Bruce Bell.

One Nation Senator Rod Culleton.

“It appears that the proceedings brought by Mr Bell are based on an allegation that, at the time of the last election, Senator Culleton had been convicted of an offence punishable by a sentence of imprisonment for one year or longer, and was therefore ‘incapable of being chosen’ as a senator under section 44 (ii) of the Constitution,” Mr Brandis said in a statement.

“The President of the Senate (Stephen Parry) has written to me today to advise that he proposes to bring the matter to the attention of the Senate when it sits on 7 November 2016. At that time, the Government will initiate a referral of the matter to the High Court ...”

So, on November 7, the Senate will be asked to refer both Mr Day and Mr Culleton to the High Court for a ruling.

Last week the One Nation senator pleaded guilty in a NSW court to larceny, relating to his tossing away the keys of a tow truck driver in Guyra, in northern NSW in 2014.

No conviction was recorded.

On Wednesday, Mr Culleton said he may have to postpone voting on any bills while his eligibility to sit is looked into.

“While I have a dark cloud over me I have to remain honourable not only to myself, but to the Senate and to Parliament,” he said.

Of the incident with the key, the senator told reporters, “I never denied I didn’t take the key and a good old punch up occurred,”. He said the situation was being blown out of proportion and compared it to nothing more than taking a scone from someone’s plate.

The senator said he would fight to keep his seat.

“This is a constitutional matter, and boy am I sharp on the Constitution so this is right up my veggie patch,” he said. “You grab a tiger by the tail and you’ve got to hang on and this thing’s scratching but I’m hanging on.”

If barred by the High Court, Mr Culleton might be replaced by One Nation’s number two Senate candidate in Western Australia.

Meanwhile, Mr Day is not the only tenant of 77 Fullarton Rd, Kent Town, South Australia worried about his predicament. In fact, a body corporate meeting of the building would probably produce unanimous support for him.

Because the entire block appears to be purpose let to sympathisers with Mr Day’s brand of conservative politics.

Family First Party former senator Bob Day.

It is a community of right-wing causes and warriors which used to include Mr Day until he quit Parliament on Tuesday.

The members have included the Samuel Griffith Society, which has defended Sir John Kerr’s role in the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government; the Conservative Leadership Foundation, which had links to Liberal senator and Donald Trump supporter Cory Bernardi; and the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance which also reportedly once managed the online matters for the conservative think tank Menzies House.

This is the building Mr Day owned and moved his electorate office into soon after entering the Senate in July, 2014.

However, after some concerns he was asking the Commonwealth to rent his office from himself, he sold the building to a business associate.

That has not prevented legal doubts over whether his real estate interests breached Section 44 of the Constitution, which bars anyone from being elected if they have a business dealing with the Commonwealth.

The Government next week will ask the Senate to ask the High Court to sort out the legal status of Mr Day’s election.

A Gofundme money raising appeal has been started on his behalf by Tim Andrews of the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, of that Fullarton Rd address. It has raised around $32,000.

The funds will go to helping pay off creditors of the collapsed group of home builders Mr Day was associated with. Mr Day had on October 17 said he would even sell his home to pay those owed, and his neighbours the Taxpayers’ Alliance wants to help

Mr Andrews, executive director of “Australia’s largest grassroots free market advocacy organisation” has known Mr Day for over 15 years.

“At the request of Bob, all funds raised from this campaign will go directly to subcontractors owed funds by the collapse of Bob’s company,” he wrote to members promoting the fund raising.

“None of the funds are going to Bob directly, and they are chosen on the basis of need.

“We have already made two payments via direct debit to two struggling families, look forward to being able to make more payments soon with the goal that all creditors are eventually paid off in full”