The Liberal Party’s challenge over the Bradfield federal election result has begun, with a directions hearing taking place in the High Court, acting as the Court of Disputed returns, on Friday.
Liberal candidate Gisele Kapterian is challenging the final election result in the northern Sydney seat where independent Nicolette Boele was declared the winner after a recount. Kapterian is disputing the validity of 151 votes and has asked the court to overturn the outcome to declare her the winner.
So how did we get here?
Following the May 3 federal election, Kapterian was declared the winner of Bradfield by eight votes. A recount was automatically triggered by the Australian Electoral Commission, given the margin was less than 100 votes.
In the recount, independent Nicolette Boele — who had also competitively contested the seat in 2022 — was declared the winner by 26 votes. Boele has now been sworn into parliament, delivered her first speech and begun work as the member for Bradfield.
What have both sides said?
On July 14, Kapterian, the defeated candidate, released a statement declaring she had made the decision to “go to the umpire” over the result. She lodged a petition in the High Court, asking for the result to be overturned.
“We are requesting a targeted final examination of a small number of ‘line ball’ ballots,” Kapterian said.
“To be clear, this is no question regarding the integrity of our electoral system. In fact this process has only served to reaffirm my faith in Australia’s democratic institutions.”
On July 15, Boele confirmed she would defend the legal challenge and would seek donations from the community to cover costs.
“We have absolute confidence in the work of the AEC and in the integrity of its processes,” Boele said.
“The Liberal Party has a legal team and enormous resources. I have community but we can’t rely on volunteers in the High Court, we need good lawyers and that is expensive.”
Boele said the donations would be returned or passed on to a nominated cause if she is not required to pay costs.
Where to from here?
We’ll have to wait and see how events play out in court. Largely, it will focus on a handful of ballot papers and any discrepancies that may arise.
In the meantime, Boele will continue as the member for Bradfield. In her first speech, she called out the parliament’s lack of ambition, saying it has failed to act on key issues like climate, housing and gambling.