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Thursday, December 12, 2013 4:34:58 AM
[Aussi] Negligent AEC practices means mystery of lost votes will remain unsolved: Mick Keelty
Dan Harrison Health and Indigenous Affairs Correspondent Date December 6, 2013
Mick Keelty, former commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, says he can't rule out theft of the missing votes. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Federal politics: full coverage - http://production-interface.dcds.fairfaxdigital.com.au/federal-politics
Former federal police commissioner Mick Keelty has criticised "lax" and "complacent" practices with the Australian Electoral Commission in concluding the fate of 1370 missing Western Australian Senate votes may never be known.
The Australian Electoral Commission asked Mr Keelty to investigate what happened to the ballot papers after the loss of the votes was discovered in October during a recount.
'Any party that does not join the behind-closed-doors trade in preferences is a mug.'
Senate ballots were treated with less care than House of Representative ballots by the West Australian AEC. Photo: J.J. Voss
In a report released on Friday, Mr Keelty said while his investigation had not excluded the possibility of criminality, he had not discovered any evidence to suggest it was more likely than that the ballot papers had simply been misplaced.
.. more .. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/negligent-aec-practices-means-mystery-of-lost-votes-will-remain-unsolved-mick-keelty-20131206-2ywhh.html
=====
Challenge to WA Senate result on hold until January
Pia Akerman and Christian Kerr
The Australian
December 12, 2013 3:47PM
AUSTRALIA'S new Senate could sit before legal challenges to the election result in Western Australia are determined, a High Court justice says.
The High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, is hearing three separate petitions about the result of the fifth and sixth Senate places in Western Australia.
But Senate contenders will be left to sweat through summer after Justice Kenneth Hayne today flagged the challenge to the upper house result in WA would not be heard until late January.
And the matter may not be settled before the new Senate commences sitting in July.
"I cannot dismiss the possibility that ... after the first of July the Senate may not be properly constituted,'' he said.
"That possibility is best avoided.''
The result in WA has already been the subject of a recount and an investigation by former Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty, after 1370 votes went missing.
The original WA Senate result saw Labor's Louise Pratt and Zhenya Wang from the Palmer United Party win the final two spots in the state.
A recount demanded by the Greens then had their sitting senator Scott Ludlam and the Australian Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich elected in their stead.
The 1370 votes found during the process to have gone missing have not been recovered.
An embarrassed Australian Electoral Commission has asked the court to overturn the election result and order a fresh election, a step likely to cost $13 million.
Justice Hayne said he would not order fresh counts of the ballots, as sought by the PUP's Mr Wang and Labor state secretary Simon Meade, as it would divert time and energy from pursuing the legal issues.
He asked the parties to return to court tomorrow with an agreed statement of the legal questions which would be tried.
Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson SC said it was the AEC's "reluctant position'' that the Senate positions could not be safely assigned and the case should remain in the High Court given the importance of the legal questions and the gravity of the potential effects.
He said the AEC has indicated it could voluntarily transfer the 946 ballots central to the dispute into the court's custody if a recount was required, but it should only be done once the legal issues had been determined.
After his investigation, Mr Keelty concluded there was a "culture of complacency'' in the WA office of the AEC.
Officials also failed to assure themselves of the "political neutrality'' of people responsible for the transport and storage of ballots, parcels, boxes and pallets, he said.
He said a fresh election would cost taxpayers $13 million.
Additional reporting: AAP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/challenge-to-wa-senate-result-on-hold-until-january/story-fn59niix-1226781778252
Dan Harrison Health and Indigenous Affairs Correspondent Date December 6, 2013
Mick Keelty, former commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, says he can't rule out theft of the missing votes. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
Federal politics: full coverage - http://production-interface.dcds.fairfaxdigital.com.au/federal-politics
Former federal police commissioner Mick Keelty has criticised "lax" and "complacent" practices with the Australian Electoral Commission in concluding the fate of 1370 missing Western Australian Senate votes may never be known.
The Australian Electoral Commission asked Mr Keelty to investigate what happened to the ballot papers after the loss of the votes was discovered in October during a recount.
'Any party that does not join the behind-closed-doors trade in preferences is a mug.'
Senate ballots were treated with less care than House of Representative ballots by the West Australian AEC. Photo: J.J. Voss
In a report released on Friday, Mr Keelty said while his investigation had not excluded the possibility of criminality, he had not discovered any evidence to suggest it was more likely than that the ballot papers had simply been misplaced.
.. more .. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/negligent-aec-practices-means-mystery-of-lost-votes-will-remain-unsolved-mick-keelty-20131206-2ywhh.html
=====
Challenge to WA Senate result on hold until January
Pia Akerman and Christian Kerr
The Australian
December 12, 2013 3:47PM
AUSTRALIA'S new Senate could sit before legal challenges to the election result in Western Australia are determined, a High Court justice says.
The High Court, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, is hearing three separate petitions about the result of the fifth and sixth Senate places in Western Australia.
But Senate contenders will be left to sweat through summer after Justice Kenneth Hayne today flagged the challenge to the upper house result in WA would not be heard until late January.
And the matter may not be settled before the new Senate commences sitting in July.
"I cannot dismiss the possibility that ... after the first of July the Senate may not be properly constituted,'' he said.
"That possibility is best avoided.''
The result in WA has already been the subject of a recount and an investigation by former Australian Federal Police chief Mick Keelty, after 1370 votes went missing.
The original WA Senate result saw Labor's Louise Pratt and Zhenya Wang from the Palmer United Party win the final two spots in the state.
A recount demanded by the Greens then had their sitting senator Scott Ludlam and the Australian Sports Party's Wayne Dropulich elected in their stead.
The 1370 votes found during the process to have gone missing have not been recovered.
An embarrassed Australian Electoral Commission has asked the court to overturn the election result and order a fresh election, a step likely to cost $13 million.
Justice Hayne said he would not order fresh counts of the ballots, as sought by the PUP's Mr Wang and Labor state secretary Simon Meade, as it would divert time and energy from pursuing the legal issues.
He asked the parties to return to court tomorrow with an agreed statement of the legal questions which would be tried.
Solicitor-General Justin Gleeson SC said it was the AEC's "reluctant position'' that the Senate positions could not be safely assigned and the case should remain in the High Court given the importance of the legal questions and the gravity of the potential effects.
He said the AEC has indicated it could voluntarily transfer the 946 ballots central to the dispute into the court's custody if a recount was required, but it should only be done once the legal issues had been determined.
After his investigation, Mr Keelty concluded there was a "culture of complacency'' in the WA office of the AEC.
Officials also failed to assure themselves of the "political neutrality'' of people responsible for the transport and storage of ballots, parcels, boxes and pallets, he said.
He said a fresh election would cost taxpayers $13 million.
Additional reporting: AAP
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/challenge-to-wa-senate-result-on-hold-until-january/story-fn59niix-1226781778252
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