The Family First senator Bob Day has tendered his resignation to the president of the Senate, citing the withdrawal of a potential investor in his embattled housing companies.
In a statement on Tuesday Day said he had resigned “effective immediately”, in a move that will leave Family First unrepresented in the Senate for at least a week.
Day first announced his intention to resign on 17 October but then suggested he might stay on until November to swing support behind his preferred replacement, Rikki Lambert, or to vote on the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill and other legislation himself.
Day then suggested he could remain permanently if an investor was found to bail out his companies, which owe a total of $37.8m and have been placed into liquidation.
But on Tuesday Day said: “While a number of offers for various parts of the Home Australia business have been received, the major investor who has been examining the group’s portfolio of assets over the past fortnight, has decided not to proceed.
“It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as a senator for South Australia and I am sorry it has ended this way.
“I will now devote my time and energy to assisting those who have been affected by the company’s closure.”
Lambert, Day’s former chief of staff, confirmed on Tuesday he was a candidate for the vacant Senate position.
Asked whether Day’s resignation indicated he was likely to be named to fill the vacancy, Lambert declined to comment. “I am not making public comment on the preselection process at this time,” he said.
Day consistently voted with the Coalition on most divisions. He had planned to support the government again on its industrial relations bills and the legislation enabling the same-sex marriage plebiscite in the November sittings.
Lambert is also a supporter of the ABCC and registered organisations bills.
Before Day’s resignation Labor had criticised the Coalition for its apparent intention to accept Day’s vote if he stayed on in the Senate, despite Day having described his own position as “untenable”.
On Tuesday Bill Shorten said he was more worried about families and contractors “ripped off by his companies” than about Day’s future:
Not as worried about Bob Day's future as I am about the hundreds of families and contractors who've been ripped off by his companies.
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) November 1, 2016
In a statement, Family First South Australian chairman and state upper house member Dennis Hood thanked Day for his “substantial contribution” to the party.
But in a press conference in Adelaide, Hood said he was “disappointed” at the time it had taken Day to resign, and it “had not been handled well”.
He said Family First’s state executive would convene as soon as possible to pick a replacement. The replacement must then be approved by the federal executive and be formally endorsed by a joint sitting of the South Australian parliament.
A joint sitting requires at least seven days’ notice, meaning a new senator will not be in place by Monday, when federal parliament returns.
A spokesman for South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, said: “The government will not delay this process and will seek to arrange a joint sitting at the earliest available time.”
Hood said he expected the process to be complete by 21 November, the start of the final two-week sitting of federal parliament.
“It looks at this stage that Family First won’t be represented for one sitting week of the federal parliament, we’re looking at what is possible in terms of arranging us to have a vote in the absence of having a senator.”
Hood said Family First supported the plebiscite and “would have a view” on the ABCC. “If I were the prime minister I’d be keen to make sure he had a sense of exactly what our views were on those issues.”
Labor will not guarantee a pair, instead considering approaches from the government on a case-by-case basis. That may cause the government to wait for Day’s replacement before bringing on votes on the plebiscite and ABCC.
Family First’s other South Australian member of the upper house, Robert Brokenshire, and Lucy Gichuhi, who was second on its SA ticket at the federal election have nominated. Hood said five other members had also nominated privately.
