Professor Graeme Orr at the University of Queensland recently published ‘In Whose Interest? The High Court and the WA Senate Vote’ on The Conversation, covering Australian Electoral Commission v Johnston. Orr’s piece is an incisive and clear explanation of what is a fairly convoluted case, and is very much worth a read. Orr also notes that a decision from Justice Hayne is expected to be handed down today, with two likely results: either Justice Hayne will declare the election void, or the case will continue, ‘with further legal argument and the parties scrapping over disputed ballots in the coming weeks or months’. As of posting, no media organisations have reported on the decision, but we’ll post links to news stories in the comments section when they do.
Austlii has just published Hayne J’s dismissal of Senator Ludlam’s petition seeking a declaration that the election is absolutely void, made on 21 January 2014. Hayne J held that Ludlam’s petition did not meet the requirements under s 355 of the High Court Rules 2004 because it did not, when read as a whole, dispute the validity of any election or return, and did not set out the facts which Ludlam intended to rely on: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2014/1.html