Virosh PERERA

■ Federal Election candidate Malcom Heffernan hqas been wiped as a nominee in two seats: Banks (NSW) and Brand (WA).

Mr Heffernan’s nomination for two electoral divisions was in contravention of the Electoral Act, said a representative of the Australian Electoral Commission.

“Each nomination form had a signed declaration that the candidate did not intend to be a candidate in any other election held the same day,” noted an AEC statement.

“The two nominations were for two separate political parties – Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (Banks) and the Australian Federation Party (Brand).

“Each nomination form had differences in the listed information - including a different date of birth, and a different expression of the candidate's name.

“Given these declarations are false the AEC has now referred the matter to the Australian Federal Police for investigation as to whether a crime has been committed under section 136 and/or 137 of the Criminal Code.

“We have notified Mr Heffernan and both registered political parties regarding this referral.

“Contravention of section 165 of the Electoral Act renders Mr Heffernan incapable of being elected. However, candidate nominations for the Divisions of Banks and Brand must remain as they were formally declared on April 22. Ballot papers have been printed and some postal voters have already received their postal voting packs,” the AEC said.

Candidates for the Federal Election were formally declared at public events on April 22.

No more secrets

■ Lead Senate candidate for the Fusion Party, Kammy Cordner Hunt, says that Upper House voting used to be “1 above the line” (or 1 to 90-ish below) for the voter to show their choice.

“That resulted in ‘secret preference deals’ and ‘preference whispering’ with sometimes outlandish results,” Ms Cordner Hunt said.

“So it has been changed to 6 (at least) above the line or 1 to 12 (at least) below.

“There are now no more secrets about deals and preferences.

“That has been eliminated. You, the voter, make those decisions yourself by putting 6 or more numbers above the line.

“There are 12 senators in each state, including Victoria, who get voted in for two years. Six years! So we want them to be the right people.

“Every three years half of those 12 (ie 6) come up for re-election, the other half next election.

“Some senators have never actually even been elected. If a party member in the Senate retires, the party can put whoever they like in their place.

“Senators are often given Ministerial roles and play a big role in policy and the directions our country takes.

“This means unelected people can have a power like this. Amanda Stoker, the current Minister for Women, got into the Senate in this way. Still only in her 30s, she has had three ministerial roles in parliament since being given the seat four years ago. She also has fairly extreme Christian views.

“Bridget McKenzie has upset a lot of Australians over the last few years with her ‘Sports Rorts’ scandals and more recently her ‘missing-in-action’ scandal as the emergency services minister.

“Yet she is up for re-election to the Victorian Senate this election – don’t reward her for all this misconduct by giving her another six years in parliament.

“Others up for re-election are Greg Mirabella (not elected, installed into a vacancy), Sarah Henderson (not elected, installed into a vacancy after losing an election to the House of Reps), all new Labor candidates and Lidia Thorpe for the Greens .

“I recommend everyone to do their research online into the parties on the ballot paper before you go in to vote so that you are prepared to navigate the daunting, confronting ballot paper,” Ms Cordner Hunt said.

Australia Votes Senate vote important

■ Kammy Cordner Hunt, Fusion Party candidate for the Senate, is urging voters to carefully consider their Upper House vote.

The Federal Election selects House of Representatives members, and Senators.

“The two houses are separate, and both ‘houses’ are equally important as each other in politics, as policy can’t be passed unless it is passed by both houses,” said Mr Cordner Hunt.

“It has always been said that the Senate provides the “checks and balances” to good legislation being introduced.

“Generally speaking, the average voter arrives at the ballot box somewhat aware of who their local Rep candidates are, but are quite unprepared for the Senate vote, giving it almost no thought until a length of white paper is thrust into their hands.

“Yet the Senate vote is just as significant as the electorate vote – if not more so, as you are about to discover. That means that we all have a responsibility to our democracy to inform ourselves of how we want to vote in the senate as well.

“While the personalities in the contest for the electorate get lots of media exposure, the Senate candidates get zero coverage from the media during election campaigns. The subject is completely abandoned,” Ms Cordner Hunt said.

● ● ● ● ● Kammy Cordner Hunt Disbelief at preferences

● ● ● ● ● Lisa Stark, Goldstein candidate (PHON)

■ Lisa Stark, Pauline Hanson One Nation candidate for Goldstein, has expressed disbelief at local Liberals directing their preferneces to the Labor Party. In return, One Nation is now directing its preferences to Labor in five seats targeting ‘leftleaning Liberals ’. Pauline Hanson says the move is in retaliation for the Liberals’ decision to preference Jacqui Lambie Network in Tasmania. The Guardian reports: “Hanson confirmed she will preference against the Liberal MP Bridget Archer, who holds Bass on 0.4 per cent. “Others on Hanson’s hit list include the Liberals Tim Wilson in Goldstein (Victoria), Trent Zimmerman in North Sydney, James Stevens in Sturt (SA) and the independent Helen Haines in Indi (Victoria),” said Paul Karp and Joe Hinchcliffe. Indi held narowly by 1.4%

■ Dr Helen Haines, independent member for the north-east Victorian seat of Indi, was elected in 2019, only on Labor preferences.

Dr Haines took over the seat from fellow independent Cathy McGowan, who endorsed her.

It might only take a swing of 1.4 per cent for Dr Haines to lose the seat, possibly to Liberal candidate Ross Lyman.

In the past two elections, there was a strong anti- Liberal vote against candidate Sophie Mirabella.

The battle for Indi sees 10 candidates contesting the seat, in ballot paper order: ■ ALEKSOV, Angel. Animal Justice Party ■ HAINES ,Helen. Independent ■ O'CONNELL, Lachlan. Derryn Hinch's Justice Party ■ WILLIAMS, Stephen. United Australia Party ■ STEVENS, Beth. Pauline Hanson's One Nation ■ GILBERT, Benjamin. The Greens ■ FISHER, Liz. The Nationals ■ DAVID, Nadia. Australian Labor Party ■ FIDGE, Julian. Liberal Democrats ■ LYMAN, Ross. Liberal ● ● ● ● ● Dr Helen Haines, Indi MHR

The majority of a small sample of voters surveyed by the Melbourne Observer-Local Paper last week perceived that Dr Haines paid most of her electorate attention to the Hume Highway corridor of Benalla-WangarattaWodonga , at the expense of MansfieldAlexandra- Yea-Kinglake.

There is a perception that Dr Haines has unduly focused on her pet Integrity Commission project, at the expense of attention to local issues. ■ Rodney Culleton, a Senate candidate in Western Australia, has been noted by the Australian Electoral Commission as an undischarged banrupt.

“This follows his lodgement of a fully completed nomination form and mandatory qualification checklist, together with the requisite $2,000 fee, before the close of nominations 12 midday on Thursday April 21,” said an AEC statement.

“Mr Culleton’s nomination declared that he was not an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent.

“The AEC notes Mr Culleton is listed on the National Personal Insolvency Index as an undischarged bankrupt. It appears therefore that he may have made a false declaration as part of his nomination process. The AEC has referred this matter to the Australian Federal Police for their consideration.”

Under the Constitution: “Any person who is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent, shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representative.”

“:The AEO WA will proceed with the election of Senators for Western Australia, as declared, and Mr Culleton’s name will appear on the WA Senate ballot paper in the 2022 Federal Election.

“The provisions of the Electoral Act do not give the AEC or any AEC officer the power to reject a fully completed candidate nomination, regardless of whether any answer to a question of the qualification checklist is incorrect, false or inadequate.

“This means the AEC cannot reject a nomination even if it contains a false declaration as to the eligibility of that person to stand for election.

“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 to ascertain if the candidate has committed an offence,” the AEC statement said.

1624 candidates

■ Some 1624 candidates will contest in the 2022 Federal Election, after nominations were officially declared at public events held across the country.

This was followed immediately by a draw for ballot paper positions. Candidate lists in ballot paper order have been verified. The ballot order for candidates in the 29 seats covered by this newspaper, are on following pages.

There are 1203 House of Representatives candidates. There are 421 Senate candidates.

Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said the statistics represent a milestone in the huge, complex logistical operation .

“Approximately 60 million ballot papers can now be printed and distributed in the coming days and early voting will begin on Monday, May 9,” Mr Rogers said.

“This is an enormous task that enables our 8000 voting venues and 105,000 temporary election workers to provide access for Australian voters.

“At the same time, we’re ensuring each venue has the appropriate COVID safety measures in place and people can feel comfortable to come and vote.

“It really is one of the largest and most complex peacetime logistical events conducted in Australia, and now is when it all comes together ahead of early voting starting on Monday (May 9),” Mr Rogers said.

Safety for voters

■ COVID-19 safety measures will be in place at all voting locations as well as for other activities that support the conduct of the election.

As part of the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce, the Australian Electoral Commission also liaises with partner agencies like the Australian Federal Police to ensure readiness for the range of both minor and major potential threats the election can pose.

An Australian Federal eEection is a major event in the nation’s calendar.