Pauline Hanson Committed For Trial
May 28, 2002
Pauline Hanson was yesterday committed to stand trial on charges of electoral fraud in Queensland.
Her former co-founder of Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, David Ettridge, was also committed for trial by Brisbane Magistrate Michael Halliday.
Hanson and Ettridge are accused of dishonestly registering the party in 1997. As a result, Hanson is also charged with dishonestly obtaining around $500,000 in electoral funding. This money has since been repaid.
The Commonwealth Electoral Act requires that a registered party:
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be established on the basis of a written constitution;
have as one of its objects or activities to endorse candidates to contest elections for the House of Representatives or Senate; and
satisfy membership requirements as either a parliamentary party or non -parliamentary party; and
pay the non-refundable $500 application fee.
To qualify as a parliamentary party a party must have "at least one member who is a member of the Commonwealth Parliament, and who has not been relied on by another party for registration. A non-parliamentary party is one that has at least 500 members who are entitled to enrolment on the Commonwealth Electoral Roll. These members cannot be relied on by another party for registration purposes."
The basis of the charges against Hanson and Ettridge is that One Nation did not have the required 500 members. It is argued that the only legal members of the party were Hanson, Ettridge and David Oldfield, currently a member of the NSW Legislative Council.
Parties and candidates qualify for election funding where an endorsed candidate or Senate group receives at least 4% of the total formal first preference votes. Independent candidates and Senate groups are also entitled to election funding if they receive 4% of the vote.
The amount of election funding payable is calculated by multiplying the number of first preference votes received by the rate of payment applicable at the time. The current rate is 180.995 cents.
No date has been set for Hanson's trial.
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