Bob Katter’s Australian Party has stumbled at its first hurdle with its name being rejected by the Australian Electoral Commission.



The AEC ruled the name was too easily confused with other parties when it was abbreviated to The Australian Party.



The shorter version of the name is what appears on the ballot paper.



The AEC issued its ruling yesterday, 10 weeks after the federal MP from Queensland first lodged his party name for registration.



A Melbourne video game lobbyist, David Doe, objected to the name on July 22 and the party replied to Mr Doe’s objection on August 2.



Mr Doe said there are now six currently registered political parties which use the word ‘‘Australian’’ in their name.



These are: the Australian Greens, Australian Labor Party, Australian Democrats, Australian Fishing and Lifestyle Party, Australian Sex Party and Australian Protectionist Party.



According to Mr Doe’s submission, ‘‘All of these parties could potentially be confused with this new Australian Party.



‘‘And electors could unwitingly vote for a party not of their choice.’’



The AEC has ruled that other political parties which include the word ‘‘Australian’’ in their title use other ‘‘identifying’’ words in their title.



This makes them ‘‘aurally and visually’’ distinguishable from other parties, the AEC found.



‘‘The proposed abbreviation is almost impossible to distinguish on its own because it lacks the meaning that would be provided by additional words emphasising a specific issue or a political philosophy,’’ it ruled.

Mr Katter said this afternoon the party would talk to the AEC and make the changes required.



He told reporters in Canberra it was clear the commission had accepted the party's full name, Katter’s Australian Party, but had rejected the abbreviation to be used on ballot papers.



“The name has been approved but the abbreviated name hasn’t, but we will address that,'' he said.



The north Queensland MP said he did not think voters would be confused between his party and others.



“I think we are pretty differentiated, I think we are very, very differentiated,'' he said.



Party spokesman Scott Barrett said the AEC’s decision had caught them a ‘‘bit on the hop’’ on a public holiday, but he did not see the ruling as a major problem.



‘‘We will have discussions with them and find exactly what their problems are with it and if we need to make changes, we will make changes,’’ he said.



‘‘It is only a small matter for us.’’



Beaudesert MP Aidan McLindon earlier this month announced plans to absorb his Queensland Party into Katter’s Australian Party.



“There’s no problem with the actual party, it’s just the abbreviation,” he said today.



“It’s just a minor bump, which the major parties will be jumping up about.”



Mr McLindon, who is to be the state leader of the merged entity, said the party would simply have to amend the shorter form of the name to make it distinguishable from other parties.



He said a separate application had been lodged with the Electoral Commission of Queensland last Friday.



This would simply be amended.



“It’d only be a problem if Anna [Bligh] calls an election in the next two weeks,” he said.



Mr Doe works for Big Ant Studios, a Melbourne-based animation and gaming studio.



He has previously dabbled in politics, being involved with a minor party that challenged South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson over his opposition to the introduction of an R18+ games classification in Australia.



“I was the founder of Gamers4Croydon. It was founded in an attempt to unseat the then-sitting attorney-general of South Australia,” Mr Doe told brisbanetimes.com.au today.



“The party’s since been deregistered and I stay on top of the AEC readings because I’m interested in politics.”





Bob Katter and Aidan McLindon announce the details of their political party merger. Credit:Daniel Hurst

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