Stephen Jones (Whitlam, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

Are they more cases? Well, there's going to be a rash of cases. I'm asked whether there are other cases after Free v Kelly in 1996. There was an unfortunate senator from the One Nation party by the name of Hill, in Queensland, who made the same fundamental mistake. Now, you could perhaps be a little bit understanding if you were considering the situation of a minor party and a relatively new party, such as the Australian Greens. You could understand that they haven't been around a long time. And perhaps, run in the way they are, they haven't got the professional infrastructure in place to ensure that they get their nomination forms right.

You might also say that in the case of a relatively new party, as the Nuclear Disarmament Party was back in 1987, you could forgive them. You might also say to the Liberal Party of Australia, 'Well, you were a bit sloppy back in 1996, but you got your house in order.' But the National party, which prides itself as being one of the oldest parties in Australia—one of the oldest—

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