Former One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has announced he will run in the upcoming Queensland election, standing for the seat of Ipswich.
The high court ruled on Friday Roberts was ineligible to sit in federal parliament. In a press conference on Friday, supported by an emotional Pauline Hanson, Roberts said he was disappointed to be leaving federal parliament.
He thanked the high court for “upholding the constitution”, and his barrister for doing a “phenomenal job”, despite his loss.
“First thing I’d like to do is to thank the people of Queensland, and Australia, for the honour of representing the people of Queensland,” he said. “It has been a wonderful job and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”
He said he regretted the high court’s decision because he genuinely believed he was always eligible to nominate for parliament, and claimed the court had even “confirmed” that he was genuine in his belief.
A copy of the judgment circulated by the court on Friday contradicted that claim.
“Senator Roberts knew that he did not become an Australian citizen until May 1974 and at the date of his nomination for the Senate Senator Roberts knew that there was at least a real and substantial prospect that prior to May 1974 he had been and that he remained thereafter a citizen of the United Kingdom,” the judgment said.
Roberts thanked Hanson, saying she had “not flinched” in her support for him during this difficult episode.
“You’re like a rock,” he said. Hanson fought back tears.
When asked if he would apologise to voters for repeatedly saying that he was nothing but an Australian citizen, Roberts said he would answer those types of questions on a “fair and balanced” network later.
Roberts smiled but said nothing when asked if that would be Paul Murray’s program on Sky News.
Hanson, standing next to Roberts, said she was “absolutely devastated at losing” him.
“I tell you what, it’s going to have to take a mighty person to fill this man’s shoes,” she said. “I think he’s unique. I think he’s been a person on the floor of parliament who brings so much to this parliament, and I think that is lacking in some many others, of our other colleagues.
“Federal parliament may have lost Malcolm Roberts, but Queensland has not lost Malcolm Roberts.
“The Queensland [One Nation] leader Steve Dickson ... he’s just over the moon,” she said about the decision to stand Roberts for state parliament.
“This is the heart of One Nation. Ipswich is where I ran my fish and chip shop. It’s where my politics started.”
Malcolm Roberts would have to devour 2015 Labor votes like Pacman to get up in Ipswich - but LNP swung the seat their way in 2012 pic.twitter.com/DT4AQRrbB5
— Joshua Robertson (@jrojourno) October 27, 2017
Hanson said she would wait for the recount to see if One Nation’s Fraser Anning would replace Roberts in the federal Senate.
Anning, a Queensland publican, was third on One Nation’s Queensland ticket at the 2016 election. He received just 19 first-preference votes, behind Roberts’s 77.
Bankruptcy proceedings against Anning were dropped earlier this month, clearing the way for him to replace Roberts if the high court ruled Roberts ineligible.
Anning released a fiery press release on Friday afternoon, criticising Roberts and demanding loyalty from Hanson.
“I fully understand that in recent weeks Pauline needed to express public support for Roberts as long as he occupied a senate spot, however that naturally changes with the high court decision,” he said.
“I have given Pauline unqualified loyalty and supported her for more than 20 years, so naturally I expect this to be reciprocated if and when I am declared elected.”
He said the outcome vindicated Hanson’s decision to refer the issue of Roberts’ citizenship to the high court.
“It is however infuriating that the Australian taxpayer has had to stump up millions of dollars to pay for a court decision, just because five politicians couldn’t get their act together to do what was required by the constitution,” he said.
“I can certainly assure all Queenslanders that before I nominated I took all steps to ensure I was eligible to be a senator, and obviously as a candidate for an Australian nationalist party, not being a foreigner is a pretty important part of that.”
