A Mr Informal of West Hobart has lodged a writ in the High Court seeking that Graeme Campbell, the Labor Member for Kalgoorlie, be disqualified from the House of Representatives.
Mr Informal asserts that Mr Campbell is a British citizen who has publicly announced he will not renounce it and as a result Mr Campbell is under “”acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power” in breach of Section 44 of the Constitution.
On November 25, the High Court declared that Phil Cleary, who has been putatively elected as the Member for Wills was ineligible to sit in the House of Representatives because he held an office of profit under the Crown contrary to Section 44 and that two of Mr Cleary’s opponents were disqualified because they were under acknowledgement of allegiance, obedience or adherence to a foreign power (Greece and Switzerland).
Mr Cleary’s challenger did not have to worry about the Commonwealth Electoral Act which requires disputed returns to be lodged within 40 days of election. MPs have not been worried about the Cleary case because of that.
However, Mr Informal relies on the words of the Constitution itself which disbar any MP with foreign allegiance at any time. He would argue that the 40-day rule is inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore invalid.
Mr Informal seeks $200 plus $200 a day for every day Mr Campbell sits from today, citing the Common Informers (Parliamentary Disqualifications) Act 1975 which converts constitutional provisions into decimal currency.
Mr Campbell’s office was not answering late yesterday and there is no “”Informal” listed in the Hobart telephone book.
In the ordinary course of events the case would not get on before the next election. However, the court could expedite it, perhaps if it though the issue should be cleared up before the next election.