Rodney Culleton High Court action bid by government 'provocative', Nick Xenophon says
Updated
South Australian crossbench senator Nick Xenophon says he is surprised the Federal Government decided to join in a High Court action against One Nation senator Rod Culleton.
Key points:
- Man who brought case against senator says Government's move shows case is on solid ground
- Senator Culleton says Attorney-General's announcement is a blow
- Former associate says senator's company in liquidation
Attorney-General George Brandis yesterday afternoon announced the Senate would be asked to consider challenging Senator Culleton's election.
Senator Culleton had been convicted of an offence carrying a jail term of one year or more at the time of the election, which may make him ineligible to sit in the Upper House — despite the fact the conviction has since been quashed.
He pleaded guilty last month to a charge of larceny, after he stole the key to a tow truck in 2014.
"I don't get it myself," Senator Xenophon told AM.
"I would have thought it would be more provocative than anything else.
"The Government, I'm sure, can tell us what their rationale for joining this application when it seems unnecessary they needed to."
The original case was brought by Bruce Bell, a former associate of Senator Culleton, who told AM the Government's decision to join the application showed it was on solid ground.
"It's simply a recognition of the reality that so-called Senator Culleton was ineligible from the moment he signed his nomination form," he said.
Senator Culleton said the Government's decision was a blow, telling Sky News last night it was a "test" for the One Nation party.
"I'm in a legal web and every time I quiver in the web, the spider seems to come out and inject me with more poison," he said.
Senator Culleton said he would not vote during the High Court case.
Last week he expressed concern about the Government's legislation to restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC), saying in an interview with The Guardian Australia he did not want there to be "adverse pressure" on the 130,000 members of the CFMEU construction union.
One of the companies Senator Culleton is a director of, Elite Grains, is being liquidated with estimates of debts worth $6 million.
Topics: federal-government, government-and-politics, federal-parliament, parliament, law-crime-and-justice, courts-and-trials, minor-parties, australia, wa
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