Laming v Electoral Commissioner of the Australian Electoral Commission

The applicants, Mr. Laming and others, sought judicial review of a decision by the Electoral Commissioner of the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) to refuse to register the Australian Greens as a political party for the purposes of federal elections. The applicants contended that the Commissioner's decision was based on an erroneous interpretation of the *Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918* (Cth) (the Act) and that the AEC had failed to provide adequate reasons for its refusal. The matter was heard by the High Court of Australia.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the AEC's interpretation of section 129(1)(a) of the Act, which requires a political party to have at least 500 members enrolled on the electoral roll in a particular state or territory to be eligible for registration, was correct. Specifically, the court had to determine whether the AEC was entitled to refuse registration on the grounds that the Australian Greens had not demonstrated that 500 of its members were enrolled on the electoral roll in *each* of the six states, or whether it was sufficient for the party to have 500 members enrolled in *any* one state or territory. A further issue concerned the adequacy of the reasons provided by the AEC for its refusal.

The High Court held that the Commissioner's interpretation of section 129(1)(a) was erroneous. The Court reasoned that the plain language of the provision, particularly the use of the indefinite article "a" before "state or territory," indicated that it was sufficient for a party to have at least 500 members enrolled on the electoral roll in any single state or territory to satisfy the membership requirement for registration. The Court further found that the reasons provided by the AEC for its refusal were inadequate, failing to sufficiently explain the basis for its conclusion that the Australian Greens did not meet the statutory requirements.

The High Court ordered that the decision of the Electoral Commissioner be quashed and remitted to the Electoral Commissioner for reconsideration according to law.