Government’s ability to block referrals will be tested after losing its majority in wake of Wentworth byelection

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Labor is pushing ahead with plans to refer the Liberal MP Chris Crewther to the high court over concerns he may have breached section 44 of the constitution , but Scott Morrison says he has “no concerns” about the Victorian’s eligibility to sit in parliament.

The government no longer has the numbers in the House of Representatives to block referrals to the high court, with Kerryn Phelps expected to be confirmed next week as the member for Wentworth.

The crossbench has previously indicated it would look at each high court referral on a case-by-case basis, but supported a Labor push to refer Peter Dutton over his own section 44 cloud, a move that was defeated by one vote last month.

Labor’s move looks doomed to fail though after Bob Katter said he would find it “hard to envisage a situation in which I would vote [for a referral] because I have seen so many people struck down by petty, ridiculous rubbish”.

“You took up the first year with the yes/no vote – complete waste of time,” he said in a statement.

“You live together for five months; you’re automatically considered married whether you’re man and man, or man and woman. The second year was taken up with the citizenship absolute petty matter, absolutely irrelevant to governing this country.

“This is a country where 83% of its minerals are foreign owned, 97% of its gas is foreign owned. This is a country that has no manufacturing base at all and an agricultural industry which is in one of the worst droughts of the nation’s history.

“And what are we talking about? That so-and-so might have a business that so-and-so might use…” (sic)

The north Queensland MP is not present for all parliamentary sittings, and given the government has lost its absolute majority, Labor could still seize an opportunity when Katter was absent and attempt to refer both Dutton and Crewther.

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Shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus said on Friday he wouldn’t “be taking advice from Mr Katter on the constitution” and would push ahead with referral attempts.

A byelection in Dunkley could potentially prove catastrophic for Morrison’s attempts to hold out for a May federal election, the latest one can be held, with the Liberals only holding the seat by a 1.3% margin.

The member for Dunkley invested $25,000 in Gretals Australia, a biotechnology company which has received commonwealth grants and funding, which he declared last month on his parliamentary interests register.

Morrison said he had spoken to the MP and was “not concerned about that”.

“These stories, they come and they go and I frankly think the Australian people are completely over all of that,” he said on Friday. “I have no concerns on the matter.’

Dreyfus pointed out Crewther had stood in parliament in October 2017 and spoke of the grants Gretals had received from the government, then invested in the company just under a year later.

“I met with the CEO of Gretals, Alistair Cumming, to discuss how they will benefit from the $50,000 grant they received under the government’s global connections fund, part of the national innovation and science agenda, as well as other federal funding they’ve recently received,” Crewther told parliament last year.

Dreyfus accused Morrison of attempting to run a “protection racket” through his refusal to refer Crewther and Dutton to the court.

“The constitution is clear – members of parliament cannot have an interest in agreements with the commonwealth, whether direct or indirect,” Dreyfus said.

“Mr Morrison must refer Mr Crewther to the high court without delay.

“After Mr Dutton, Mr Crewther is the second Coalition MP carrying serious doubts over his eligibility to even be in parliament. Scott Morrison has truly lost control.”



Section 44 of the constitution bans parliamentarians from benefiting from either a direct or indirect interest from the commonwealth.

An exception exists for companies with more than 25 shareholders. Crewther, who made the investment with his wife through the couple’s self-managed super fund, is one of 14 shareholders.

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In a statement to the Herald Sun, which first reported the potential conflict, Crewther said he was unaware of how many shareholders the company had, and had “thought I would support the local economy”.

Dutton has been challenged over his family’s financial interest in Queensland childcare centres, after the government changed its childcare subsidy to pay centres directly.

The Queensland MP says he has legal advice showing he is not in breach of the section, which was the government defence for Barnaby Joyce and Fiona Nash before their referrals to the high court – which subsequently ruled them ineligible.

The high court bench has taken a black-letter approach to its reading of section 44, with 14 of the 17 MPs referred to it ruled ineligible since the constitutional saga began in 2017.

Seven byelections have been held with all sitting members returned, while seven senators have been replaced.

Guardian Australia has contacted members of the crossbench. A spokeswoman for Rebehka Sharkie said the MP would examine the evidence on Crewther before making a decision, while the Greens MP, Adam Bandt, said he would keep an open mind.