Higgins candidate faces questions as section 44 eligibility becomes source of accusation and counter-accusation between parties

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Labor has threatened to refer the Liberal candidate in Higgins, Katie Allen, to the high court in the latest tit-for-tat exchange between the parties over section 44 eligibility.

Labor claims Allen may have retained an unpaid role at a medical research institute in receipt of commonwealth grants, but the Coalition says this is not true.

Although Allen removed herself from the research grants, a Murdoch Children’s Research Institute spokeswoman told Guardian Australia early on Wednesday she is still an “honorary fellow”, which Labor believes could put her in breach of section 44 of the constitution.

But – after publication of this story – the spokeswoman then claimed the institute had “offered [Allen] an honorary fellowship however she did not complete the paperwork to accept the offer”.

A Liberal campaign spokesperson said the accusation was “a pathetic attempt by the Labor Party to distract attention from the fact that their candidate for Deakin, Shireen Morris, is a Fijian citizen and therefore disqualified from standing for election”.

“The fact is Ms Allen removed herself from all the grants in question and she resigned her position at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) prior to nominating as a candidate. Ms Allen has not accepted an honorary fellowship position at the MCRI.”

The threat to refer Allen is the latest attempt to use constitutional eligibility as a weapon in the federal election campaign.

'Kick up the backside': Libs contemplate the unthinkable in Higgins Read more

On Tuesday Guardian Australia reported Allen was the chief investigator on three National Health and Medical Research Council grants, including a $2.5m grant for research on food allergies and $1.7m to investigate whether vitamin D supplements can help kids’ allergies.

Labor believes that Allen may still have a “direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement” with the commonwealth. It cited the case of Sykes v Cleary in which a Victorian school teacher was found ineligible for having an office of profit under the crown despite taking leave without pay for the period of the election.

The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, told Guardian Australia: “If the Liberal party think they have cleared up any doubts about Katie Allen’s eligibility to stand as a candidate for parliament, they are mistaken.

Dreyfus demanded Allen produce evidence she has “cut off all entitlement to grants from the NHMRC”.

“If these questions are not cleared up, Labor will consider referring Professor Allen to the high court if she is elected.”

Allen and Morris are contesting two Liberal-held seats in Melbourne: Higgins on a margin of 8% and Deakin on 5.7%. Both are considered winnable for Labor – or the Greens in Higgins – due to the expectation of a large swing against the government in Victoria.

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Both the Liberal and Labor parties have rejected claims the candidates are ineligible – leaving voters facing an uncertain choice on 18 May before any potential challenges within 40 days of the election.

In the 45th parliament 14 MPs or senators resigned or were ruled ineligible due to dual citizenship, while Bob Day lost his Senate spot for having an indirect interest in the lease of his electorate office and Rod Culleton was disqualified for a conviction, later annulled.

The joint standing committee on electoral matters recommended a referendum to reform or repeal section 44, but the Coalition ruled it out in favour of new rules requiring candidates to disclose details of potential disqualifications on a candidate checklist.