Small victories.

After a long and expensive legal battle, the High Court has ruled that Rod Culleton, who was elected as a senator for One Nation at the last federal election, was actually ineligible to stand.

Culleton’s short and not-so-sweet political career has been pretty much dominated by legal fights. In December last year the Federal Court ruled that he was bankrupt, and according to Section 44 of the Australian Constitution, anyone who is bankrupt is automatically disqualified from holding a parliamentary office. But Culleton refused to accept the court’s decision, announced he would challenge it and continued to work out of his Perth electoral office, telling journalists he was “not going anywhere”.

Culleton resigned from One Nation in December after Pauline Hanson accused him of being “ego driven” and claimed he had asked the party for money.

I feel sorry for Rod Culleton & his family but this was the right ruling. I hope he now acts honourably & steps down with dignity #auspol — Pauline Hanson (@PaulineHansonOz) December 23, 2016

Today’s High Court decision is different to the earlier court ruling that disqualified Culleton for being bankrupt. It relates to his conviction for a larceny charge in early 2016. Anyone convicted of a crime that carries a potential sentence of more than a year in prison is ineligible to stand for parliament, according to the constitution. The High Court today confirmed that, due to that larceny charge, Culleton wasn’t qualified to stand for parliament and his election has been annulled.

So regardless of the outcome of his bankruptcy case, Culleton has officially been kicked of parliament. The Australian Electoral Commission will now recount the ballots from the last federal election to determine who will take Culleton’s WA senate spot.

The person most likely to get the gig is One Nation candidate Peter Georgiou, who just happens to be Culleton’s brother-in-law. That might make things awkward for Hanson, but she took to Twitter this morning to congratulate Georgiou on his expected election.

I look forward to having Peter Georgiou represent Pauline Hanson's One Nation & Western Australia. Welcome to the team Peter. #auspol pic.twitter.com/zUQ7BHcEzL — Pauline Hanson (@PaulineHansonOz) February 2, 2017

Parliament kicks off for the year next week, so stay tuned for all the exciting fun and games in Canberra.