South Australian Independent MP Troy Bell will face trial in October accused of misappropriating public funds, after he lost his High Court bid to stop the prosecution.
The Mount Gambier MP, who is seeking re-election on Saturday, was charged with the offences in 2017 after an investigation by South Australia's Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC).
The offences relate to his work for an independent learning centre in Mount Gambier prior to serving in parliament.
Last year, a Supreme Court judge upheld Mr Bell's argument that the ICAC had acted unlawfully in referring the matter directly to the Director of Public Prosecutions and in exercising various powers and performing a prosecutorial role.
The full bench of the Supreme Court later overturned the judge's conclusion.
Mr Bell had been due to face trial in February, but the hearing was delayed while the MP sought special leave to appeal to the High Court.
In his application for special leave, which was obtained by the ABC, Mr Bell's lawyers argued the Full Court of the Supreme Court of South Australia erred in its findings.
Leave was initially granted, but today the full court of the High Court revoked it.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Martin Hinton QC, appeared in court, making an undertaking that all future evidence must first be referred to police.
The decision means Mr Bell's trial will proceed in the District Court in October.
MP also facing other charges
The Mount Gambier MP is also due to face court next week on 52 separate charges relating to the alleged misuse of a taxpayer-funded accommodation allowance.
In December, he was charged with collecting $54,424 between 2015 and 2020 by deceiving staff at South Australia's parliament — who approved the payment of the Country Members Accommodation Allowance — "by falsely claiming he was entitled to be paid".
He has strongly denied the charges.
The allowance is a nightly payment made to regional MPs who need to be in the city overnight for work and whose usual place of residence is more than 75 kilometres from Adelaide.
In August 2020, Mr Hinton said 11 other ICAC-related prosecutions had been delayed as a result of legal challenges connected to Mr Bell's case.
The Adelaide Magistrates Court heard in late last year that Mr Bell’s appeal bid had delayed the trial of Liberal MP Fraser Ellis, who is charged with 23 counts of deception.
Mr Ellis — who is accused of making 78 fraudulent claims for the Country Members Accommodation Allowance — had his first trial date vacated to allow time for the judgement in Mr Bell’s appeal to be made.
Mr Bell resigned from the Liberal Party after he was charged in 2017.
He won his seat as an independent at the 2018 election and is recontesting as an independent in Saturday's poll.
In an open letter released today, he accused Premier Steven Marshall of having "underestimated" his intelligence, if Mr Marshall was counting on his backing in the event of there being no clear winner from the poll.
His Liberal opponent is Ben Hood, the brother of Labor candidate for Adelaide Lucy Hood.
