The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has confirmed that a person referred to by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) only as a “61-year-old West Australian man,” sentenced for electoral fraud, is former Pauline Hanson One Nation (PHON) party Senator Rob Culleton.
The AFP charged him with lying about his bankruptcy status on a Senate nomination form for the 2022 federal election when he completed a candidate nomination for The Great Australian Party three years ago.
At that time, he was listed as an undischarged bankrupt on the National Personal Insolvency Register, but declared that he was not.
He was placed on a recognisance order by a Perth magistrate, meaning he needs to act with good behaviour for two years and six months, or he will forfeit a $10,000 bond.
He was also ordered to pay court costs of $12,086.80.
Culleton was convicted following a two-day trial in September, after the AEC reported its suspicions that he'd lodged a nomination form with false details.
He claimed he was not an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent, even though Australian Financial Security Authority records showed he was bankrupt and had been since 2016.
Section 44(iii) of the Australian Constitution states that any person who is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent can’t be chosen for, or sit as, a senator or an MP.
“Without personal service of a Creditors Petition, I am not legally bankrupt under the Act, and therefore not disqualified under Section 44 of the Constitution,” he said in a statement to the ABC at the time he was charged. On numerous occasions, Culleton has declared the Australian Constitution is invalid, and thus so are the Australian courts.
Acting Inspector Fleur Jennings said the AFP remained committed to working with partner agencies to protect the integrity of the Australian electoral system and democracy.“The community wants to have confidence that the people nominating to represent them are actually eligible to be elected,” she said.
Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope said the sentencing sets a precedent that will discourage candidates from providing misleading declarations to the AEC at future elections.
“This is an important outcome for maintaining the integrity of our electoral process,” he said. “Nominating as a candidate at a federal election is a serious undertaking, and Australians expect their political candidates to take it seriously.
“Yesterday’s judgement demonstrates that providing false information on candidate nomination forms has consequences.”
In 2016 he was elected as a One Nation Senator for Western Australia, but the Federal Court later ruled he was bankrupt and therefore ineligible.
In January of 2017 the President of the Senate wrote to the Governor of Western Australia advising that, as a result, his seat in the Senate was vacant. As in the current case, Culleton disputed the effect of the court’s order and claimed to still be a senator.
His appeal against that bankruptcy order to the Full Court of the Federal Court was dismissed in February 2017. On the same day, the High Court determined that regardless of his solvency status, he had been ineligible to stand for election due to a criminal matter in New South Wales.
Culleton referred to himself as a “senator-in-exile” and sought to appeal his disqualification to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom; however, appeals to it from Australian courts had been abolished by the Australia Act of 1986.The Senate vacancy left by Culleton was later filled by his brother-in-law, Peter Georgiou. Culleton went on to establish The Great Australian Party (pdf) in April 2019.
He tried again, in 2025, to gain a Senate seat, adding a ‘r’ to his name and registering as Rodney Cullerton, triggering another AFP investigation. He failed to be elected.
