Rod Culleton

Rodney Norman Culleton (born 5 June 1964) is an Australian politician who was sworn in and sat as a Senator for Western Australia following the 2016 federal election.

In April 2014 Culleton was involved in a dispute with a tow truck driver in Guyra, NSW.

The tow truck driver was attempting to repossess a truck and the key to the tow truck was lost.

Culleton was charged with larceny in relation to the missing key.

A second, unrelated, larceny charge, concerning a hire car in Western Australia in March 2015, has not yet been heard in a court.

At that time he was a member of the Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, but on 18 December 2016 he resigned from the party to sit as an independent.

On 23 December 2016 the Federal Court of Australia held that Culleton was bankrupt.

The Senate vacancy left by Culleton was later filled by his brother-in-law Peter Georgiou, One Nation's second Senate candidate for WA in the 2016 election, after an official recount.

Culleton was declared as elected as a Senator for Western Australia on 2 July 2016 as the lead candidate on the Pauline Hanson's One Nation ticket during the 2016 election.

At the time he had been convicted in absentia on a larceny charge over a vehicle key in New South Wales, but had not yet been sentenced.

On 18 December 2016 Culleton announced on Twitter that he had resigned from One Nation, citing a lack of party support and "un-Australian behaviour".

Party leader Pauline Hanson responded that Culleton had been "a pain in my backside" and that she was "glad to see the back of him".

Culleton was involved in a long and complex history of legal proceedings in relation to claims he owed money to a number of different companies.

Balwyn Nominees sought an order in the Federal Court that Culleton be made bankrupt.

On 23 December 2016, after a tumultuous hearing, the Federal Court rejected Culleton's application for trial by jury, found that the technical requirements of the Bankruptcy Act had been met and held Culleton's various other submissions were unarguable and totally without merit.

The court ordered sequestration of Culleton's assets, with the effect of declaring him bankrupt.

The court granted a 21-day stay on proceedings under the sequestration order, with Culleton announcing that he would appeal the decision.

After receiving an official copy of the trial judgment from the Federal Court as well as documentation from the Inspector-General in Bankruptcy, on 11 January the President of the Senate, Stephen Parry, wrote to the Governor of Western Australia, Kerry Sanderson, to notify her that Culleton's seat had become vacant due to his having become an undischarged bankrupt on 23 December 2016.

Parry added that, since the matter of initial ineligibility was still before the High Court sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, he was currently unable to advise that the ordinary procedure for filling a casual vacancy (section 15 of the Constitution) applied and he would provide further advice following the Court's decision, expected "in the near future".

Culleton immediately announced that he would lodge a High Court challenge to the President's ruling as "premature" since the 21-day stay was to run until 13 January.

On 12 January, the Federal Court extended the stay of proceedings under the sequestration orders by one week.

Culleton maintained that it was also a stay of the declaration of bankruptcy, so that he continued to be a Senator.

However, he was already listed on the Parliament website as a "former Senator".

On 19 January it was reported that Culleton's lawyer had received a letter from Parry's office which warned that, in continuing to identify himself as a Senator, Culleton could be committing the serious offence of impersonating a public official, and that in response Culleton had amended his parliamentary Facebook page to read "Rod Culleton – 'Senator' for WA – Gone Fishin'", and changed the signature on his parliamentary emails to "Rod Culleton | Federal Senator for Western Australia (Gone Fishin')".

When the matter came before the local court in March 2016 Culleton was not present, saying he did not have time to travel to the Court as he was required to be in court in WA the day before on unrelated larceny charges (see below).

Culleton was convicted in his absence.

He successfully applied to set aside the conviction, with the conviction being annulled on 8 August 2016.

Culleton then pleaded guilty to the offence, and was ordered to pay the truck driver's costs but a conviction was not recorded.

On 11 January 2017 the President of the Senate, Stephen Parry, wrote to the Governor of Western Australia, Kerry Sanderson, advising her that as a result of Culleton's bankruptcy his seat in the Senate was vacant.

Culleton disputed the effect of the court's order and claimed still to be a Senator.

His appeal against the bankruptcy order, to the Full Court of the Federal Court, was dismissed on 3 February 2017.

On the same day, the High Court determined that Culleton had, in any case, been ineligible for election to the Senate due to a criminal matter in New South Wales.

Culleton's appeal was dismissed by a full court of the Federal Court on 3 February 2017 (see below).

Under Sections 44 and 45 of the Constitution of Australia, a Senator who faces an undischarged bankruptcy during his term automatically forfeits his seat.

On 31 January 2017, Justice Gageler in the High Court rejected challenges by Culleton to the Court's jurisdiction and to Parry's decision.

On 3 February 2017, the full court of the Federal Court unanimously dismissed Culleton's appeal against the sequestration order.

It rejected Culleton's claim that the trial judge had treated him unfairly, finding that the judge had dealt properly with his "unfocused and erratic" submissions.

It also rejected his argument that a sequestration order does not necessarily involve a finding of bankruptcy, confirming that "insolvency, not judgment execution or debt collection, is the essence of an application for a sequestration order".

Culleton unsuccessfully sought a stay of the sequestration order in the High Court.

Culleton established The Great Australian Party in April 2019.