You can read the full transcript of Senator Ryan's interview here.
The government, meanwhile, is maintaining it has acted with integrity throughout this matter.
"We took every available opportunity at the first possible opportunity to inform the President of the Senate on Friday morning of the facts," Senator Ryan told ABC radio earlier this morning.
"The government had acted with entire probity...because we brought it to the attention of the Senate before the Parliament resumes."
Sometimes you just have to keep up appearances.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is hosting King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands.
A timeline for you of the Bob Day matter thus far:
- Day is elected in September 2013;
- Day takes his seat in July 2014;
- moves into Fullarton Road electorate office and is advised this is not appropriate but Day denies having a financial interest in the office;
- the property is sold to an associate in September 2014;
- no rent has been paid since December 2015;
- investigation is launched in August 2016; and
- the contract is terminated on October 7.
How did this flare up again?
Because there is a murky history to do with an Adelaide property that houses Mr Day's electoral office and receives rental payments from the Commonwealth.
Special Minister of State, Scott Ryan, investigated and terminated the lease on the property on October 7 (three and a half weeks ago), The Australian reported today.
Mr Day told the newspaper that he had not breached the constitution: "No rent was ever paid. In my case, I had no contract or agreement with the crown. I had an agreement with someone else, who had an agreement with the crown."
Labor, as you can imagine, is pretty unimpressed.
Senate leader Penny Wong wants a full explanation from the government about what it knew and when about Mr Day's eligibility to sit in Parliament.
"I think Australians wouldn't look too kindly on a government that sat on information or didn't deal with concerns because they wanted someone's vote," Senator Wong said.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said this morning that the government received independent legal advice last Thursday night about a possible breach of section 44 of the constitution, rules that make it illegal for members of Parliament to receive "indirect pecuniary interests" from the Commonwealth.
The government handed that advice, centring on Mr Day's interest in the building where his Adelaide parliamentary office was located, to Senate president Stephen Parry on Friday morning, more than three days before Mr Day formalised his decision to quit the Senate and the questions became public.
To make it worse, the government did not just find about this yesterday afternoon.
Oh no.
It knew a month ago and waited until Melbourne Cup day to share the information.
Why is the constitution being invoked, I hear you ask.
The government, acting on legal advice, now believes it has been renting office space on behalf of the senator, whose company actually owned the premises.
That would be a breach of the constitution amounting to a "direct or indirect pecuniary interest" with the Commonwealth – which is specifically prohibited – and enough to make a person receiving such profit ineligible to stand as a member of the Australian Parliament.
Back to topUp until that moment everyone had been speculating about how quickly Family First would be able to get a new person into the Senate, who it would be and what that would mean for the government.
But now the government will refer the matter to the High Court, which would sit in its capacity as the Court of Disputed Returns.
The Senate will also consider the matter on Monday.
Oy vey.
Everyone kind of rolled their eyes when Bob Day resigned from the Senate yesterday. Again. Jokes about Nellie Melba were made. The implications for the government's legislative agenda were thoroughly discussed.
But then, assuming most people were feeling a bit tired and emotional after the Melbourne Cup, Attorney-General George Brandis released a statement advising that Special Minister of State Scott Ryan had written to Senate president Stephen Parry on Friday with "certain information concerning the position of Senator Bob Day".
Senator Brandis said the information related to a "potential indirect pecuniary interest" in a contract with the Commonwealth.
Hi there and welcome to a special blog devoted to the life and times of Bob Day.
It's always the quiet ones that cause the most trouble.
Let's have a look at what's going on.
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