Pauline Hanson had no option but to go to court to challenge the outcome of upper house voting in the NSW election after receiving information alleging a fraud had taken place, a judge has said.
In the NSW Supreme Court today, Justice Peter McClellan was deliberating on costs in the failed legal action taken by the former One Nation leader. Ms Hanson could face a huge legal bill if she incurs the costs racked up by the NSW Electoral Commission and two upper house MPs involved in the action.
Justice McClellan expressed the initial view that Ms Hanson had no other option than to present her evidence to the court after receiving an email alleging the fraud.
“She’s not the police, she’s not the commission,” Justice McClellan said in response to legal arguments by teams representing the MPs and the commission.
“She’s only got one remedy – to come here.”
Barristers representing the commission, Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham and Nationals MP Sarah Mitchell have applied to the court for Ms Hanson to pay their costs.
Both MPs risked losing their upper house seats had Ms Hanson’s action succeeded.
Ms Hanson missed out on an upper house seat in the March 26 state election.
Sean Castle, a father and a teacher, on Tuesday admitted in the same court he had fabricated the email and forwarded it to Ms Hanson under the pseudonym Michael Rattner after the election.
Full Article: Pauline Hanson had no choice but to challenge election loss, a judge says | The Australian.