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ABC News
ABC News
Politics
Matthew Doran

Malcolm Roberts' potential replacement no longer facing legal action

Bankruptcy proceedings against the man who could replace One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts have been withdrawn.

Fraser Anning and his wife were facing legal action in the Federal Court because of a more than $212,000 debt owed to Bendigo and Adelaide Bank.

The pair were guarantors of a loan wrapped up in the failure of agricultural investment scheme, Great Southern Finance.

But that case was withdrawn this morning in the Federal Court in Adelaide.

Mr Anning is the next candidate on the Queensland One Nation Senate ticket, and would likely replace Senator Roberts if the High Court rules him ineligible to hold office because of his dual citizenship.

The High Court has already ruled Senator Roberts was a British citizen at the time of the July 2016 election, but his tenure in the Senate remains unclear.

The constitution bans foreign nationals from standing for election and entering parliament.

Senator Roberts is one of seven politicians asking the High Court to rule on whether he should be disqualified from Federal Parliament.

If Mr Anning had been declared bankrupt, he too would have been stopped from entering the Senate.

In that case, the next One Nation candidate was party founder Pauline Hanson's sister, Judy Smith.

The High Court will hear the cases of the "Citizenship Seven" in Canberra next week.

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