The President of the Senate has informed all Senators that despite Mr Bob Day purporting to resign from the Senate, the President was not in a position to advise the Governor of South Australia that the vacancy was one to which section 15 of the Constitution applied.
This raises the question as to whether Mr Day was validly elected to the Senate at this years federal election.
If he was not, Mr Days resignation would not create a casual vacancy because he was never validly elected in the first place.
Precedent suggests the appropriate method for replacing Mr Day in the Senate would therefore be through a recount of the SA Senate vote rather than through the SA Parliament appointing a replacement.
This occurred after the 1987 election when Robert Wood from the Nuclear Disarmament Party was found not to have been validly elected.
Labor will take independent legal advice on the complex issues involved in this situation, including whether it is desirable to refer the matter to the Court of Disputed Returns.
We will take a principled approach by seeking to ensure that the situation is resolved in accordance with the Constitution and electoral laws, that the outcome reflects the democratic will of SA voters and that the matter is dealt with transparently and openly.