I intend to take Senator Abetz to the High Court

I have put Senator Abetz on notice that I will be taking him to the Court of Disputed Returns should he nominate for a seat in the Senate at this election.

Nomination forms for the upcoming half Senate election have to be received by Friday 30th July, that for Senator Abetz will then become available for public inspection and will be posted on Tas Times.

I am now seeking advice as to how and in what form, that I, as a citizen and resident of Tasmania may proceed to have a matter listed before the High Court of Australia that involves the Senate of the Commonwealth Australia.

The matter relates to the qualifications of Senator Abetz and his right to represent me as a Tasmanian in the Senate House of the Commonwealth Parliament.

I have spent more than two years trying to elicit from Senator Abetz the exact date that he resigned his German Citizenship. He will not provide the date and or his resignation of citizenship letter  and no details regarding this matter are given on his Parliamentary website.

I approached the Clerk of the Senate in the first instance and have since written to the current Labor and past Liberal Presidents of that Institution.

The issue that I wish the High Court to address is that the Senate has failed to exercise its obligations under section 47 of the Commonwealth Constitution. Section 47 of the Constitution that provides for any question as to the qualification of a member of the Senate to be determined by the Senate. 

The Presidents of the Senate were advised that Senator Abetz had refused to provide information as to his status in accordance with  the requirements of Section 44 (1) of the Constitution to be a member of the Senate. I have discovered two of his four previous Senate nomination forms, both are signed by Senator Abetz and contain different dates for his naturalisation, one of which, must at best, be incorrect and therefore be an offence under the Commonwealth Electoral Act. The other two nominations have either not been kept or destroyed.

The provisions of Section 44 (1) state that no person who holds allegiance to a foreign power can retain a position as a Senator. Further, under Section 46 the Senator would be at risk of proceedings for recovery of penalties under section 3 of the “Common Informers (Parliamentary Disqualifications) Act 1975.” 

The responses of the Presidents of the Senate were ”that it is not appropriate or not proper for them to have the Senate act and that the Electoral Commissioner for Tasmania has certified him elected.” (An unusual response given the AEC is forbidden from determining the issue of qualifications.)  Further, that I could take action in the High Court, an action which should Senator Abetz nominate, I now intend to instigate.

This matter is fully documented on Tasmanian Times as follows:
Abetz a further update – 09/03/09: HERE
Erich Abetz an Update – 03/09/09: HERE
Abetz put on notice – 01/12/09: HERE
Abetz and the High Court – 06/29/08: HERE
Citizen Abetz and my considerable efforts – 05/26/08: HERE
Dear Senator Abetz – 05/19/08: HERE

This article was first published on Tasmanian Times, Thursday, July 29.