Federal MP Stuart Robert in Parliament House. Credit:Andrew Meares ASIC records and his register of interests show Mr Robert was a "director and shareholder" of GMT Group and a number of other GMT companies that tender records show were awarded about $16.5 million worth of government contracts between 2007 and 2010. One contract worth $300,300 was made by Centrelink to GMT Canberra Pty Ltd for IT specialist services. In 2008, Mr Robert was appointed to Parliament's joint foreign affairs, defence and trade committee and from 2009 acted as a Coalition spokesperson on defence issues. Agencies that used GMT included Veterans Affairs, the Department of Parliamentary Services, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, CrimTrac, the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Climate Change, Austrade, Medicare, Centrelink, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Department of Human Services.

Two contracts alone paid by CrimTrac - between December 2007 and February 2009 - totalled more than $250,000. Section 44 of the constitution states that any person who "has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth" is ineligible to sit in Parliament. When asked if shareholding and directorship of GMT businesses breached the constitution, Mr Robert said "no", but refused to explain how he believed it did not. "The way my corporate affairs were structured did not breach the requirements of section 44 of the constitution," he said. When pressed to clarify what those arrangements were, Mr Robert said he did not intend to expand on the matter.

"This is seven years ago, my affairs were well-structured when I entered Parliament to avoid any issues and I don't intend to expand on it," he said. Fairfax Media has also asked Mr Robert to provide any documentation that shows how he may have arranged his corporate holdings so that profits from government tenders did not go towards the running of the GMT companies. He has refused to supply any information to back his claims and responded that, as it was seven years ago, it is a "mute [sic] point." Mr Robert was the chief executive officer of GMT Recruitment from 1999-2007, according to his biography on the parliamentary website. Earlier this year, former Family First senator Bob Day was disqualified from Parliament by the High Court after it came to light that his Commonwealth-funded electorate office was being rented in a building he indirectly owned. Leading constitutional expert George Williams said it was unclear whether Mr Robert had breached the constitution, but noted the Day case "broadened out the scope" for people to be disqualified under section 44.

"His [Mr Robert's] case raises questions as to whether he would have been disqualified in light of the High Court's current approach to the section. If so, he is unlikely to be the only one." Professor Williams said there was "no means" by which to challenge a person who has sat in a previous Parliament in apparent contravention of section 44, meaning Mr Robert would not be forced out of Parliament even if it was proven he breached the rules.



"It is likely that many people have sat in prior parliaments in contravention of section 44 of the constitution," Professor Williams said. The High Court is currently examining the eligibility of Assistant Health Minister David Gillespie, who owns a small suburban shopping complex in Port Macquarie. One of the shops is an outlet of Australia Post, a government-owned corporation. Backbencher Barry O'Sullivan is also facing questions about his eligibility due to business links to a partly government funded road project. Mr Robert quit the Turnbull ministry last year after it was revealed he owned shares in a trust linked to Liberal donor Paul Marks and his company, Nimrod Resources. The finding emerged after Mr Robert was controversially revealed to have attended the signing of a deal in China in 2014 between Nimrod Resources and Chinese officials, despite claiming it was a private trip. Professor Williams said the latest eligibility questions demonstrated the "urgent need for a fair and independent way" of determining whether parliamentarians should be disqualified.

"We are dealing here with large matters that go to the legitimacy of our Parliament, and those who represent us," he said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is facing the potential disqualification of three Nationals ministers: Barnaby Joyce, Fiona Nash and Matthew Canavan, who have all been referred to the High Court under another part of section 44 that forbids dual citizens from standing for Parliament. Follow Latika Bourke on Facebook