The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has referred former One Nation senator Rod Culleton to the Australian Federal Police to determine if he made a false declaration in nominating for the coming federal election.
Mr Culleton is the leader of the 'Great Australia Party', which according to its Facebook page is fielding 28 candidates across a number of states and territories.
In a statement, the AEC said Mr Culleton had nominated for the WA senate ticket in the required way and declared he was not an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent.
The commission noted, however, that Mr Culleton was listed as an 'undischarged bankrupt' on the National Personal Insolvency Index.
A provision in the Constitution means because of that, he would be ineligible to sit as a senator.
Despite this, the commission remains powerless to do anything else, meaning Mr Culleton will still appear on the WA Senate ballot paper.
"The AEC has referred Mr Culleton's candidate nomination form to the Australian Federal Police to ascertain if a false declaration has been made," the commission said.
"The outcome of the AFP's examination of this matter will be a matter for the AFP to advise in due course.
"If the AEC is presented with compelling evidence that other candidates in the 2022 federal election may have also signed a false declaration, we will consider whether similar referrals to the AFP are warranted."
Time as a senator short-lived
Mr Culleton was elected to the Senate as a member of One Nation in 2016, but the next year lost two legal battles on the same day.
The first was an appeal against a Federal Court ruling that declared him bankrupt, before his election was declared invalid by the High Court.
The court ordered a special recount of the WA Senate vote, after being asked to rule on whether a conviction at the time of the poll was grounds for disqualification.
Mr Culleton had been convicted of stealing the keys to a tow truck — but that conviction was handed down without him appearing in a regional New South Wales court and was later quashed.
He was officially disqualified from Parliament in 2017 over his bankruptcy.
At the time, he criticised Australia's court system for "killing democracy".
Earlier this year, he was charged with breaching quarantine directions after crossing the WA border.
When he appeared in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court, Mr Culleton said he would be seeking the services of a constitutional lawyer.
"This is a constitutional question… it's headed for the High Court," he said.
