One Nation’s lead West Australian Senate candidate has failed in his attempt to have a trial over a stealing charge adjourned.

He argued he doesn’t have time to properly prepare before starting his parliamentary role.

While the Senate vote is yet to be fully counted, Rodney Culleton appears in line for the 11th WA Senate seat but may be ineligible because he is yet to be sentenced over a New South Wales conviction for stealing a key from a towtruck driver who was trying to repossess a car his company had leased.

Culleton, a 52-year-old Williams farmer, is also facing trial in WA after he last year allegedly stole a $27,000 hire car from bank-appointed receivers who had begun foreclosure proceedings at a friend’s farm – surrounding it with hay bales to stop them leaving.

The Australian constitution bans people from being federal members of parliament if they are awaiting or serving sentences for crimes that carry sentences of 12 months’ jail or more – which applies to both of Culleton’s charges.

Culleton did not appear in person for a status conference in the Perth magistrates court on Tuesday but his defence lawyer, Gerald Yin, applied for an adjournment to his four-day trial, which starts on 22 August.

The application was refused by the magistrate, Peter Malone.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, says federal parliament will begin on 30 August – and with the trial expected to be complete by 26 August, Culleton would have four days before the first sitting of the new parliament.

Yin said his client planned to move to Canberra by the end of next week – work began before senators entered the chamber, with discussions taking place so parliament was effective when it sat.

Culleton was almost certain he had the numbers to win, Yin said.

He said Culleton was not trying to frustrate the judicial process and knew he had to face the charge – but had not expected he would be elected.

The police prosecutor, Mark Lynch, said he opposed the adjournment application as it was important the matter be dealt with swiftly, given the implications of a conviction on Culleton’s political plans. “We also say it is quite a strong case against the accused,” Lynch said.

The magistrate said it was an unusual situation, the likes of which he’d never seen, but he didn’t accept Yin’s argument that not granting more time to prepare the defence would be a significant prejudice to Culleton.

He said the presumptive politician may want to hit the ground running in Canberra but the timeline he faced was of his own making.

Lynch said 22 witnesses, mainly police officers, would testify at the trial.