Jacqui Lambie dumps replacement Steve Martin from party

Jacqui Lambie may be able to “stop” Steve Martin from being elected to her former Senate seat through High Court action.

Steve Martin poses at Parliament House today. Picture: AAP/Lukas Coch

Jacqui Lambie may be able to “stop” Steve Martin from being elected to her former Senate seat through High Court action, according to one of the country’s top constitutional law experts.

University of Sydney constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey said there were similarities between the Lambie case and the matter of former Nick Xenophon Team senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore, which will go before the court on Tuesday, after Mr Martin was “expelled” from the Jacqui Lambie Network.

Tim Storer, the next-in-line to replace Ms Kakoschke-Moore, was an NXT candidate at the 2016 election but resigned in November following a dispute with the party.

Both Ms Kakoschke-Moore and Ms Lambie were disqualified from federal parliament last year for being British citizens, and now the two men in line to take their seats are not in their respective parties.

Mr Martin has claimed Ms Lambie dumped him from her party last night after demanding he step aside to allow her to take his upper house seat.

Ms Kakoschke-Moore argues she should be allowed to take back her former seat because she has renounced her British citizenship. Ms Lambie, who has also renounced her British citizenship, is watching the case very carefully.

“If there is genuinely an issue about this (Mr Martin taking Ms Lambie’s former seat), which I’m very sceptical about, it should be exposed in that (Kakoschke-Moore) case,” Professor Twomey said.

“On that basis if somebody wanted to stop Mr Martin taking his place they could go to the court and raise the fact that a similar issue was being dealt with next week in the Kakoschke-Moore case and therefore seek to stay Mr Martin’s confirmation of election until such time as the issue is resolved. That’s a possibility.

“My own view is I cannot see how what party you’re a member of makes any difference. As we saw also in relation to One Nation, you can be elected under the name of a particular party and then leave that party immediately and you continue to hold your office. I can’t understand why leaving the party in the course of the “election period” before you’re formally elected (would) change the validity of your election.”

The Lambie matter will be back before the High Court in Melbourne at 9.30am tomorrow after Mr Martin, who is also Devonport mayor, was ruled eligible to sit in parliament. Mr Martin is hoping he will be declared elected tomorrow and sworn in next week.

Lambie dumps replacement from party

Incoming Tasmanian senator Steve Martin claims Jacqui Lambie dumped him from her party last night after demanding he step aside to allow her to take his upper house seat.

Mr Martin, the Mayor of Devonport, who was cleared by the High Court to take Ms Lambie’s vacated Senate seat earlier this week, said this morning it was always intended that he enter the Senate if given the court’s blessing.

He told local radio that Ms Lambie — who resigned over a dual citizenship — first asked him to stand aside to allow her to take-up her old seat yesterday afternoon.

“For the first time she suggested I should stand down and make way for her to enter the Senate again,” Mr Martin said.

Now destined to sit as an independent senator, Mr Martin suggested he had never given any promise to stand aside to allow Ms Lambie to regain her seat once her British citizenship was cancelled.

He was at a loss to explain why Ms Lambie had suddenly moved to expel him from the Jacqui Lambie Network.

“You’d have to ask Jacqui that … I’d been steadfast in my resolve and what I was doing, and that was entering the Senate as a JLN senator,” he said. “And that hadn’t altered since day one.”

However, Ms Lambie suggested Mr Martin was being expelled for failing to uphold the party’s values of “mateship​” and “respect​”.

“I don’t feel you have been honest or upfront with me since my resignation,” she said in a statement sent to Mr Martin last night.

She suggested Mr Martin had reneged on a commitment to retain her former staff. “This, coupled with your lack of commitment to the network since the last election shows us that you are not interested in following our values,” she said.

The statement also accused Mr Martin of making public statements without party authorisation. “Therefore, it is my duty to inform you that the management committee of the JLN has moved to expel you from the party,” she said.