5 November 1999

On Tuesday 2 November, Mr Philip Benwell, the National Chairman of the Australian Monarchist League, filed an application with the Federal Court, naming the Electoral Commissioner as respondent.

Mr Benwell asked the Court to order the segregation of those ballot papers objected to by scrutineers during the scrutiny on polling night. Mr Benwell was particularly concerned about the legality of the information provided in the AEC "Scrutineers Handbook", that ballot papers containing a tick in place of "Yes", will be counted as formal. Section 93(8) of the Referendum Act requires the AEC to favour the franchise where the voter's intention is clear.

This morning, Justice Sackville of the Federal Court dismissed Mr Benwell's application for an interlocutory injunction. Justice Sackville decided that on the "balance of convenience" the relief sought by Mr Benwell was not justified on four grounds:

• the considerable, if not insuperable difficulties in changing instructions to all polling staff at such a late stage;
• the lengthy unexplained delays on the part of the applicant in instituting proceedings;
• there is nothing in the evidence to suggest that the disputed class of ballot papers would make any difference to the Referendum result;
• the Referendum Act already provides a mechanism for challenging the result.

Further information:

Mr Brien Hallett
Director Information
02 6271 4415