12 December 2017

New inquiry on decisions made by the Court of Disputed Returns

The Senate has asked the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to inquire into the implications of decisions made by the Court of Disputed Returns.

Committee Chair Senator Linda Reynolds said the inquiry was an opportunity to provide greater clarity to the electoral process.

“Australians need to be assured that all members of the Australian Parliament are constitutionally eligible to serve and must also have confidence in the processes leading to their election,” Senator Reynolds said.

Terms of reference for the inquiry are:

The implications of recent decisions by the Court of Disputed Returns concerning section 44 of the Constitution on questions referred by the Parliament under section 376 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, with particular reference to:

(a) the decisions in connection with the disqualification of former Senators Bob Day and Rodney Culleton;

(b) a regime for disclosing information relating to aspects other than section 44(i), for which the Parliament has already provided;

(c) the form such a process might take and how it could be implemented; and

(d) any related matters.

The Committee has been asked to report by Tuesday 6 February 2018.

Submissions are due on Friday 22 December 2017. For more information about the inquiry and how to lodge a submission visit http://www.aph.gov.au/codr.

Please note this referral is separate to the Committee’s inquiry into matters relating to Section 44 of the Constitution. For information about that inquiry, please visit https://www.aph.gov.au/s44.

Enquiries:

Media Contact for Senator Reynolds: Amy Blom (08) 9477 5411, 0431 685 372 or amy.blom@aph.gov.au.

Secretariat: for background call (02) 6277 2374 or email em@aph.gov.au.