Heathorn v Ausn Electoral Commission

Heathorn (the applicant) sought judicial review of a decision by the Australian Electoral Commission (the AEC) to refuse to register his political party, the "Australian Protectionist Party". The matter came before Hayne J of the Federal Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the AEC had acted lawfully in refusing to register the applicant's party. Specifically, the Court was required to consider whether the AEC's interpretation and application of the relevant provisions of the *Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918* (Cth) concerning party registration were correct. This involved an examination of the AEC's assessment of the party's name and its compliance with the statutory requirements for registration.

Hayne J found that the AEC's refusal was based on a misinterpretation of the Act. The AEC had concluded that the name "Australian Protectionist Party" was substantially the same as the name of another registered party, the "Protectionist Party of Australia", and that this similarity would be likely to mislead or deceive electors. However, Hayne J determined that the statutory test for substantial similarity was not met. His Honour reasoned that the names, while containing similar words, were sufficiently distinct in their overall composition and likely to be understood by electors as referring to different entities. The AEC's decision was therefore found to be affected by an error of law.

The Court ordered that the AEC's decision to refuse registration be set aside and remitted to the AEC for reconsideration according to law.