Fate of politicians referred to the High Court over the citizenship saga will not be known until at least mid-October.

It appears that on Day One before the High Court of Australia there is to be no united defence by those sitting politicians defending their election as members of parliament and stories appear to be changing.

ABC News, 24 August 2017:

The fate of politicians referred to the High Court over the citizenship saga will not be known until at least mid-October.

The court held its first hearings on the cases in Brisbane today, and Chief Justice Susan Kiefel has ordered the matter be heard in Canberra on October 10-12.

It is not clear yet how long it could take the court to decide on the case and announce its decision on the five cases currently before it — those of Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, former Nationals Minister Matt Canavan, One Nation's Malcolm Roberts and former Greens senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam.

Solicitor-general Stephen Donaghue QC, acting for the Commonwealth, had urged the hearings be scheduled in mid-September to ease any concerns about the validity of decisions made by the 45th Parliament.

In another twist, Mr Joyce's political nemesis, Tony Windsor, has been given permission to join the citizenship challenge in the High Court.

Mr Windsor will argue Mr Joyce has breached the constitution, as he was a dual citizen of New Zealand.

Mr Windsor's lawyers, appearing by videolink from Melbourne, also argued for the right to cross-examine Mr Joyce if they needed it for their case.

Solicitor-general Stephen Donaghue QC, acting for the Commonwealth, urged the court to hear the matters by mid-September.

Chief Justice Kiefel said she understood the "unusual circumstances" of the challenges, and the "high level of urgency", given it would have an impact on the current make-up of the Parliament.

However, she raised concerns whether the matters could be dealt with that quickly, particularly when Deputy Nationals leader Fiona Nash and South Australian senator Nick Xenophon's cases were awaiting formal referral to the court.

Chief Justice Kiefel asked the solicitor-general whether there was a "real practical difficulty in terms of governance" if the court waited until October to hear the cases, to which Mr Donaghue replied there was not.

Lawyers for Senator Canavan also said the Commonwealth had "underestimated the complexity of their case", given the nature of his Italian citizenship.

They also suggested the highly publicised story he had presented about his mother signing him up for Italian citizenship was "irrelevant", rather arguing that there had been retrospective changes to Italian laws that had led to the strife.

Mr Donaghue said the cases of Senator Canavan, Mr Joyce and Ms Waters were different to those of Senator Roberts and Mr Ludlam.

He argued Senator Canavan, Mr Joyce and Ms Waters had no knowledge they could be considered dual citizens under foreign law.

The solicitor-general but suggested Senator Roberts and Mr Ludlam knew or should have known.

Lawyers for Senator Roberts criticised the initial timing of the full hearings, suggested by the Commonwealth.

They also took issue with the Attorney-General's offer to get the same British QC enlisted to give expert evidence on other citizenship cases to also draft a report about Senator Roberts' status.

The argument was that they should have the chance to brief the legal expert themselves, and have the opportunity to find their own experts if they did not agree. [my highlighting]

The Australian, 24 August 2017:

Barrister Robert Newlinds SC, for India-born Senator Roberts, said his client did not concede to being a citizen of any country other than Australia.

However, Mr Newlinds said Senator Roberts made contact with the British Home Office before the election, but received no response. He then sent another email before the election and “renounced” any foreign citizenship.

However, Senator Roberts did not receive any acknowledgement from the Home Office until after the election, the court has heard, when they sent him a renunciation form to fill out.

He later was told by the Home Office that his renunciation of British citizenship had been accepted – but Mr Newlinds said it was not clear whether that acceptance was in relation to the pre-election email or the post-election form……

Attorney-General George Brandis says the government is “grateful” the High Court agreed to hear all eligibility cases in the one hearing.

Senator Brandis said the hearing, to be held in the first fortnight of October, was scheduled as early as possible, despite the government asking for an earlier date on the 13th and 14th of September.

“We are very grateful that the High Court has listed the matter at the next practicable opportunity, we were pressing the court to hear it even earlier in September but it just wasn’t practicably possible particularly since the matter was going to be set down for three days,” Senator Brandis said.

“By the standard of listing matters in the High Court it is a very swift hearing, it gives all the parties a full opportunity to be ready, to present both written submissions and of course oral argument….. [my highlighting]

Matters for judgment by the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns:

NOTICE - Reference by the Senate to the Court of Disputed Returns - Senator Matthew Canavan

NOTICE - Reference by the Senate to the Court of Disputed Returns - Mr Scott Ludlam

NOTICE - Reference by the Senate to the Court of Disputed Returns - Ms Larissa Waters

NOTICE - Reference by the Senate to the Court of Disputed Returns - Senator Malcolm Roberts 

NOTICE - Reference by the House of Representatives to the Court of Disputed Returns - The Hon Barnaby Joyce MP

Members and Senators of the Australian Parliament: you had one job to do.......

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 44

Disqualification

                   Any person who:

                      (i)  is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power; or

                     (ii)  is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer; or

                    (iii)  is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or

                    (iv)  holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth; or

                     (v)  has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons;

shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

                   But subsection (iv) does not apply to the office of any of the Queen's Ministers of State for the Commonwealth, or of any of the Queen's Ministers for a State, or to the receipt of pay, half pay, or a pension, by any person as an officer or member of the Queen's navy or army, or to the receipt of pay as an officer or member of the naval or military forces of the Commonwealth by any person whose services are not wholly employed by the Commonwealth. [AustLII, Commonwealth Consolidated Acts, An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia, July 1900]

When nominating to stand as a candidate at a federal general election or a by-election the Australian Electoral Commission supplies all prospective candidates with a 51 page handbook, titled “Candidates Handbook: Federal elections By-elections”.

The intent of this handbook is to explain the steps you will need to take to qualify as a candidate and to comply with the law before, during and after an election.

On Page 8 of the May 2016 edition of the handbook candidates are supplied with a “Checklist”.

The third point on that 15 point checklist is:

I have confirmed that I am qualified to nominate.

Pages 13 to 14 clearly set out “Disqualification under the Constitution” and states:

You are required to sign a declaration on the nomination form that you are qualified under the Constitution and the laws of the Commonwealth to be elected to the Commonwealth Parliament. If you have any doubts as to your qualifications under the Constitution, the AEC recommends you seek your own legal advice. The AEC does not provide legal advice to prospective candidates.

On 14 August Member for New England, Leader of the National Party of Australia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, became the fifth sitting member to announce that he had only now discovered he holds dual citizenship.

According to Michelle Grattan writing in The Conversation on 15 August 2017 Joyce’s dual citizenship came to light after two lines of inquiry in New Zealand: questions from Fairfax Media, and a blogger, to the Department of Internal Affairs, and questions on notice from [NZ] Labour MP Chris Hipkins, following his conversation with Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s chief-of-staff Marcus Ganley, who’s a Kiwi.

Besides being exposed as the fifth dual citizen sitting in federal parliament, Joyce is now the third parliamentarian and second member of the Turnbull Government to refuse to resign even though he has been ineligible to stand as a candidate at every federal election held since his birth.

MPs and senators all had one straightforward task to complete prior to every federal election at which they stood as candidates and it is becoming increasingly obvious that very few of them actually did so.

They deserve no sympathy for this failure on their part.

UPDATE

The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 August 2017:

A third Turnbull government minister has been caught up in the dual citizenship crisis that has rocked parliament, with Nationals senator Fiona Nash advising she is a British citizen by descent.

Just moments before parliament rose for a two-week break, the deputy Nationals leader told the Senate that she had received preliminary advice from the British Home Office on Monday that she had received dual-citizenship at birth through her Scottish-born father…..

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull convened an urgent cabinet meeting just after 6pm, where it was decided, based on advice from the Solicitor-General, that Senator Nash did not have to resign from either the Senate, or lose her cabinet spot as minister for rural health.

An hour later, the deputy Nationals leader told the Senate that she had become the fourth government member to fall foul of section 44's dual-citizenship rule and would refer herself to the High Court when parliament resumed next month.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 August 2017:

Twenty-one people sit in the Nationals' Party room in Canberra.

Four of them – just shy of one fifth of the party room – now face questions about the constitutional validity of their election to the Parliament…..

Barnaby Joyce and Nash, National leader and deputy, Matt Canavan – a senate rising star – all face citizenship challenges, while king-making senator Barry O'Sullivan faces questions over family business dealings with the Commonwealth.

Members of Australian Parliament receive third pay rise in four years raising base salary to $203,020 per annum

The 226 members of the House of Representatives and Senate will receive a base salary which is almost six times higher than the June 2017 full-time minimum wage – commencing on 1 July 2017.

Excerpts from Remuneration Tribunal 2017 Review of Remuneration for Holders of Public Office Statement, 22 June 2017:

The Tribunal has decided to increase remuneration by 2 per cent for public offices in its jurisdiction, with effect from 1 July 2017…….

In conducting its annual review of remuneration, the Tribunal takes account of economic conditions in Australia, past and projected movements in remuneration in the private and public sectors (including the APS), as well as the outcomes of reviews of public offices completed by the Tribunal. In order to inform its conclusions the Tribunal draws upon authoritative external sources such as the published material available from the Government, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) as well as trends in public and private sector remuneration. It is obliged by its legislation also to consider the Annual Wage Reviews of the Fair Work Commission.

Adjustments arising from the Tribunal’s annual review generally apply to the broad spectrum of offices in the Tribunal’s determinative jurisdiction including the most senior offices in the public service and statutory agencies, certain government-owned businesses, Secretaries, numerous part-time offices and the federal judiciary, as well as parliamentarians. Ordinary annual adjustments in remuneration of this kind recognise the achievement of ongoing objectives and the steady evolution in responsibility that is characteristic of public administration.

The Tribunal considers it important that remuneration for offices in its jurisdiction be maintained at appropriate levels over the longer term to attract and retain people of the calibre required for these important high level offices. The Tribunal is conservative in its approach to annual increases and in this case is conscious of the Government’s policy of wage restraint for the APS and non- APS government agencies. Ideally, the Tribunal is concerned to avoid, in the future, any need for significant one-off increases to restore proper relativities and to recognise fully ongoing changes in work requirements…..

The Tribunal sets remuneration for a range of offices that sit at the forefront of the private/public sector ‘divide’. Heads of agencies, members of boards and technical/professional specialists often straddle roles between both sectors. Many of these office holders do not expect or require that monetary compensation be set at private sector levels.

Rather in the true sense of the phrase ‘public service’, office holders serve for the public good. This means that in setting remuneration the Tribunal has traditionally set rates below those of the private sector.

Nonetheless over the past year there has been a notable increase in submissions to the Tribunal seeking higher remuneration for offices and individual office holders based at least in part on private sector remuneration.

As well as achieving an appropriate balance in the assessment of both private and public sector wage movements, the Tribunal must make its assessment of wages and other economic considerations based not just on past experience but also on predictions of future movements. The Tribunal is also conscious of the Government’s policy of wage restraint applying to APS and non-APS agencies. Ultimately the Tribunal has decided to set its general increase at 2 per cent…..

This wage increase translates into the following figures.

The Australian, 22 June 2017:

The rise will push ordinary members of parliament up by just under $4000 to $203,020 per annum.

The Prime Minister will get a $10,350 pay rise from $517,504 a year to $527,854

Cabinet ministers, currently paid a base salary of $343,344, will get nearly $7000 extra and will now be paid $350,210 a year.

Shadow ministers, on $248,800 per year, will get bumped up to $253,776 a year.

MPs and senators had already been granted additional taxpayer-funded support staff six months ago.

The Australian, 20 December 2016:

Taxpayers will fork out an extra $35.8 million over the next four years for federal politicians to ­employ 33 additional staff, adding to more than 1500 people already employed by MPs.

The allocation will see the extra full-time positions divided ­between the Coalition, Labor, the Greens and crossbench MPs, and also provide for some existing roles to be reclassified, costing $9.1m annually from 2017-18.

The mid-year budget review says $35.8m will “allow parliamentarians to more effectively manage their workload and represent the interest of their constituents”.

The total number of personal staff employed by government MPs is 448, including 401 for the 30 ministers and 25 for the 12 parliamentary secretaries, who are called assistant ministers.

Eight staff work for government whips and a further 14 have other roles.

The opposition employs 101 personal staff; 37 are allocated to the Leader of the Opposition, and six to opposition whips. The Greens have 17 personal staff. Each of the 15 crossbench MPs and senators have been allocated an extra three staff. In addition, there are almost 1000 staffers working in electorate offices, with the 226 MPs and ­senators entitled to four workers each.

Department of Finance documents show the number of staff classified as senior advisers ­jumped from 61 in February last year to 101 last month. In the same ­period, the total staff in lower-paid positions fell by eight.

Government staff are paid ­between $48,000 annually for an entry-level electorate staffer to $245,000 for a senior adviser, plus allowances of up to $30,000 a year.

The staff have just signed a new enterprise bargaining agreement that locks in salary and allowance increases of 2 per cent a year for the next three years.

Readers will recall that Turnbull Government MPS and senators opposed the June 2017 minimum wage rise, actively supported cuts to penalty rates for workers in the retail, fast food, restaurant, hospitality and pharmacy sectors and, continue with planned welfare cuts including a freeze on family tax benefit rates for two years from 1 July 2017, a freeze on "income-free areas" and "means-test thresholds" for certain payments and allowances for three years and extending waiting periods for parental payments and youth allowance for those who are not full-time students or apprentices.

Without wide consultation with indigenous peoples the Turnbull Government is fast tracking amendments to the C'wealth Native Title Act 1993

Without wide consultation with indigenous peoples the Turnbull Government has tabled a retrospective bill, Native title amendment (indigenous land use agreements) bill 2017, in order to overturn Federal Court of Australia orders handed down in McGlade  v Native Title Registrar [2017] FCAFC 10 and ensure that projects such as foreign multinational Adani Mining Pty Ltd’s Galilee Basin complex comprising six open-cut & five underground coal mines and associated infrastructure can proceed.

As it now stands this bill appears to allow a weakening of the authority of Native Title holders identified and named by the Native Title Tribunal in decisions made under existing provisions in Native Title Act 1993 as well as those who may be named in future decisions.

However, this is a complex issue given the number of existing Indigenous Land Use Agreements which have been entered into across Australia and merits Parliament’s attention – though perhaps not the less than 24 hour express train ride Turnbull gave it in the Lower House.

On 16 February the bill passed the House of Representatives with a majority of 9 MPs and has been referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee which is expected to file a report on 17 March 2017.

Senate finds Attorney-General Brandis sought to undermine rule of law in Australia

Australian Senate, Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, Inquiry into the  Nature and scope of the consultations prior to the making of the Legal Services Amendment (Solicitor-General Opinions) Direction 2016, 8 November 2016 – majority view:

4.9 It is the committee's view that the Attorney-General has sought to undermine the rule of law in Australia by failing to adequately consult the Solicitor-General and constraining the independence of the Solicitor-General….

4.27 The committee makes the following recommendations:

Recommendation 1 

4.28 That the Senate disallow the amendment to the Direction or the Attorney-General withdraw it immediately, and that the Guidance Note be revised accordingly.

Recommendation 2 

4.29 That the Attorney-General provide, within three sitting days, an explanation to the Senate responding to the matters raised in this report.

Recommendation 3 

4.30 That the Senate censure the Attorney-General for misleading the parliament and failing to discharge his duties as Attorney-General appropriately.

Full report here.

Senators falling like skittles in Canberra

On 1 November 2016  it was the announcement that it was the intention of the Turnbull Government and  Australian Parliament to challenge the validity of the election of Family First Senator for South Australia Bob Day in the High Court on the basis of a potential non-direct pecuniary interest through Fullarton Investments Pty Ltd.

One day later and a similar announcement is made concerning One Nation Senator for West Australia Rod Cullerton in relation to a criminal conviction for larceny prior to the 2016 federal election.

UNCLASSIFIED

SENATOR THE HON GEORGE BRANDIS QC

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE

MEDIA RELEASE­

Senator Rod Culleton

Last Saturday, I wrote to the President of the Senate, the Hon Stephen Parry, to draw to his attention an Opinion which I had received from the Solicitor-General concerning the election of Senator Rod Culleton as a Senator for Western Australia.  I received the Opinion late on Friday, 28 October 2016.  I also provided a copy of the Opinion to Senator Culleton.

The opinion was sought by me on 13 October 2016 in view of issues raised in proceedings commenced in the High Court against Senator Culleton by Mr Bruce Bell. 

It appears that the proceedings brought by Mr Bell are based on an allegation that, at the time of the last election, Senator Culleton had been convicted of an offence punishable by a sentence of imprisonment for one year or longer, and was therefore “incapable of being chosen” as a Senator under section 44(ii) of the Constitution.

The President of the Senate has written to me today to advise that he proposes to bring the matter to the attention of the Senate when it sits on 7 November 2016.  At that time, the Government will initiate a referral of the matter to the High Court pursuant to section 376 of the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

2 November 2016

"I don't know who the dickhead is that thought up this incredible, brilliant idea; it's just a total waste of taxpayers' money" - Warren Mundine

Having read the following media release last Thursday I feel sympathy for Warren Mundine’s obvious sense of frustration at the announcement of yet another ‘make busy’ inquiry into the criminal justice system and indigenous incarceration.

It was only in March last year that the Senate Finance and Public Administration Committees began an Inquiry into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Experiences of Law Enforcement and Justice Services, which received fifty-one submissions and held hearings in Perth, Sydney and Canberra.

The final report was due on 25 August 2016, however as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull pulled the plug on all current parliamentary inquiries on 9 May 2016 by calling a double dissolution federal election, time spent, taxpayers’ money and the efforts of concerned parties have come to naught.

Rather like most of the recommendations of previously completed state and federal inquiries into the Aboriginal experience of Australian society and its institutions.

UNCLASSIFIED

SENATOR THE HON GEORGE BRANDIS QC

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

LEADER OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE SENATE

SENATOR THE HON NIGEL SCULLION

MINISTER FOR INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE­

ALRC inquiry into incarceration rate of Indigenous Australians

Today we announce that the Turnbull Government will ask the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to examine the factors leading to the over representation of Indigenous Australians in our prison system, and consider what reforms to the law could ameliorate this national tragedy.

It has been 25 years since the final report of the landmark Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, but Indigenous Australians are still overrepresented in Australia’s prisons. In 1991, Indigenous Australians made up 14 per cent of our nation’s prison population; by 2015, this had increased to 27 per cent.

Other worrying statistics include the fact that Indigenous children and teenagers are 24 times more likely to be incarcerated than their non-Indigenous peers, while Indigenous women are 30 times more likely to be incarcerated.

The ALRC’s inquiry is a critical step for breaking through these disturbing trends. The terms of reference will be subject to consultation, particularly with Indigenous Australians, state and territory governments who have primary responsibility for our criminal justice frameworks, as well as the broader legal profession.

The Turnbull Government is committed to reducing Indigenous incarceration and has committed $256 million in 2016-17 through the Indigenous Advancement Strategy for activities to address the drivers and improve community safety.

27 October 2016

Please tell me how Family First Senator Bob Day has the gall to remain in the Australian Senate after announcing his resignation

Commonwealth of Australia Constitution:

s44. Any person who:

(i)is under any acknowledgment of allegiance, obedience, or adherence to a foreign power, or is a subject or a citizen or entitled to the rights or privileges of a subject or a citizen of a foreign power; or

(ii) is attainted of treason, or has been convicted and is under sentence, or subject to be sentenced, for any offence punishable under the law of the Commonwealth or of a State by imprisonment for one year or longer; or

(iii) is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent; or

holds any office of profit under the Crown, or any pension payable during the pleasure of the Crown out of any of the revenues of the Commonwealth: or

(iv) has any direct or indirect pecuniary interest in any agreement with the Public Service of the Commonwealth otherwise than as a member and in common with the other members of an incorporated company consisting of more than twenty-five persons;

shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

s45. If a senator or member of the House of Representatives:

1. becomes subject to any of the disabilities mentioned in the last preceding section; or

2. takes the benefit, whether by assignment, composition, or otherwise, of any law relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors; or

3. directly or indirectly takes or agrees to take any fee or honorarium for services rendered to the Commonwealth, or for services rendered in the Parliament to any person or State;

his place shall thereupon become vacant.

Make no mistake, the following represents the insolvent liquidation of companies owned by Family First Senator Bob Day and family (with Bob Day as sole director) and foreshadows personal insolvency.  There are 207 houses still under construction and building work halted, an unspecified number of employees having no guarantee of full payment of wages/superannuation/holiday pay owed and, an unknown number of business creditors who will presumably meet with the liquidator in November 2016.

The Australian, 18 October 2016:

Senator Day said Home Australia and its subsidiaries in South Australia. Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales would be liquidated by McGrathNicol.

“As I have always agreed to sign personal guarantees to creditors, this closure also has serious implications for me and my family,” he said.

“Creditor liabilities greatly exceed our assets so we will also lose our family home.

“As for my role as a Senator, I will of course resign.”

Smart Company, 18 October 2016:

Matthew Caddy and Barry Kogan of McGrathNicol have been appointed as liquidators of parent company Home Australia Pty Ltd, as well as seven wholly owned subsidiaries: Homestead Homes Pty Ltd, Collier Homes Pty Ltd, Newstart Homes (SE QLD) Pty Ltd, Ashford Homes Pty Ltd, Huxley Homes Pty Ltd, Nationwide Australian Investments Pty Ltd, and Smart Road Property Rentals Pty Ltd.

Construction on all homes being built by Home Australia has ceased and the liquidators said in a statement on Monday their “immediate objective is to work constructively with relevant insurers and customers in an effort to facilitate the orderly recommencement of construction of uncompleted homes by alternative builders”.

McGrathNicol is also accepting expressions of interest from potential buyers for the entire Home Australia business or individual parts.

The Guardian, 27 October 2016:

Family First senator Bob Day’s collapsed house building empire owes a total of $37.8m, according to their liquidator.

A spokesman for liquidator McGrath Nichol told Guardian Australia on Thursday that the seven companies owe unsecured creditors a total of $19.6m.

The figure dwarfs initial estimates that unsecured creditors were owed $12.5m.

The companies owe a total of $18.2m in secured debt, of which National Australia Bank is owed $17.5m. Those debts will take priority over the unsecured creditors.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) 26 October 2016:

Name:	HUXLEY HOMES PTY LTD
ACN:	106 443 216
ABN:	41 106 443 216(External Link)
Registration date:	24/09/2003
Next review date:	24/09/2017
Status:	External Administration
Type:	Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares
Locality of registered office:	TEA TREE GULLY SA 5091
Regulator:	Australian Securities & Investments Commission

17/10/2016

7E8438321

Notification of Appointment of Liquidator (Creditors' (505J) Voluntary Winding Up)

Unfortunately for parliamentary democracy, Senator Day appears to have now rethought his statement of 17 October that he was resigning from the Senate and now intends to stay indefinitely as his announcement was apparently only one of future intent.

Wellington Times, 24 October 2016:

……Senator Day issued a short statement.

"I refer Fairfax to my statement last Monday expressing an intention to resign as a result of my family company's problems," he said.

One Adelaide-based expert in receivership and company administration said it was unlikely Senator Day's companies could be wound up quickly and suggested a possible bankruptcy was at least six months away.

Parliament will return on November 7 for three final sitting weeks of the year, with the Senate expected to vote on the two bills used for trigger the July 2 double dissolution election.

Senator Day's vote will be crucial as the government seeks nine out of 11 crossbenchers to support the legislation. If he is not present for the votes, he would seek a pair with Labor.

UPDATE

ABC News, 1 November 2016, 12:37pm:

Family First senator Bob Day has tendered his resignation, effective immediately.

Pressure had been mounting on the now-former senator to resign as his construction company crumbled.

Thank the gods! Senator Bob Day resigns

The Australian: Senator Bob Day at a home being built by his family firm in Broadview, Adelaide

Far-right politician and former Liberal Party member, Family First’s Senator Robert “Bob” Day, having run his building company into liquidation has resigned from the Australian Senate.

He had been a senator for just over 28 months and was the only member of the senate with a Facebook page dedicated to a financial disaster he oversaw.

During his time in office he strongly voted for:

Charging postgraduate research students fees

Decreasing ABC and SBS funding

Decreasing availability of welfare payments

Deregulating undergraduate university fees

Giving apprentices access to a $20,000 loan

Increasing indexation of HECS-HELP debts

Increasing restrictions on gambling

Live animal export

Regional processing of asylum seekers

Revoking citizenship of dual nationals involved with terrorism offences by the minister

Temporary protection visas

Voluntary student union fees

Putting welfare payments onto restricted debit cards

He voted against:

A fast transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy

A Royal Commission into banking

An emissions reduction fund

Ending immigration detention on Nauru

Increasing accessibility of government data and documents

Increasing freedom of political communication

Increasing investment in renewable energy

Increasing marine conservation

Increasing scrutiny of asylum seeker management

More scrutiny of intelligence services & police

Protecting whistleblowers

Requiring a warrant to access citizens’ telecommunications records

Speeding things along in Parliament (procedural)

Tighter means testing of family payments

Something not right?

Building Australia’s new submarine fleet in South Australia

Federal action on public housing

Increasing transparency of big business by making information public

Public transport

Restricting donations to political parties

Stopping tax avoidance or aggressive tax minimisation

Suspending the rules to allow a vote to happen (procedural)

Treating government action on climate change as a matter of urgency

Something not right?

A carbon price

A federal inquiry into Queensland government administration

A minerals resource rent tax

A publicly accessible foreign ownership register for agricultural land

Ending immigration detention on Manus Island

Greater public scrutiny of the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations

Implementing refugee and protection conventions

Increasing fishing restrictions

Increasing protection of Australia's fresh water

Increasing support for community radio and TV

Increasing trade unions' powers in the workplace

Landholders' right to say no to mining and gas exploration

Letting environmental groups challenge the legality of certain government decisions

Maintaining or increasing CSIRO funding

Protecting the Great Barrier Reef

Putting a time limit on immigration detention

Removing children from immigration detention

Requiring Parliamentary approval of military deployments

Restricting foreign ownership

Senate electoral reform

The use of strong encryption technologies

See: https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/sa/bob_day