Muldowney v The Australian Electoral Commission; Muldowney v The Australian Electoral Commission

In these proceedings before the High Court of Australia, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, Patrick Kevin Muldowney filed two petitions, numbered C9 and C10 of 1993, against the Australian Electoral Commission. The dispute concerned the validity of these petitions.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether the petitions complied with the requirements of section 355(c) of the *Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918* (Cth). If the petitions were found not to comply, the Court had to determine the appropriate orders to make, considering the provisions of section 358(1) of the Act, which states that no proceedings can be had on non-compliant petitions.

The Court determined that both petitions failed to meet the requirements of section 355(c) of the *Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918*. Consequently, pursuant to section 358(1) of the Act, the Court ruled that no proceedings could be had on either petition. Following discussions between counsel, the Court ordered that each petition be dismissed under section 360(1)(viii) of the Act. An intervenor, Mr. Langer, raised concerns about the rights of other potential parties to join the petition, arguing that dismissal should not occur before such persons had an opportunity to make representations regarding the petition's validity. However, the Court proceeded with the dismissal.