Guyula bank records key

INDEPENDENT Yingiya Mark Guyula hopes his banking records will show he was not a paid member of the Milingimbi Local Authority at the time of his electoral nomination.

Northern Territory Electoral Commissioner Iain Loganathan last week confirmed he was investigating whether Mr Guyula’s election to the seat of Nhulunbuy was valid.

Under NT electoral law, a person cannot nominate for election if they hold “an office of appointment under a law of the Commonwealth or a law of a State or Territory”.

Mr Guyula did not return calls from the Sunday Territorian, but his spokesman Kendall Trudgen, who also worked as the Yolngu man’s campaign manager, said Mr Guyula did not believe he was a member of the authority.

Mr Trudgen said it was “undeniable fact” Mr Guyula was included on the list of authority board members.

“That’s a matter of fact he’s on the list, but lists don’t mean anything without proper procedural process,” he said.

“A person is not a member because someone’s put them on a list that says they’re a member, otherwise anyone could be on there.”

Mr Trudgen said Mr Guyula had not resigned from the board, which is part of the East Arnhem Regional Council, as “there was no resignation to make”.

“He hasn’t signed a commitment to serve, so his participation with the council at that committee was never from his perspective an official role,” Mr Trudgen said.

He said Mr Guyula was seeking documentation re- garding his apparent membership of the authority from East Arnhem Regional Council.

Mr Trudgen said Mr Guyula had attended four authority meetings since June 2014.

He said Mr Guyula was not aware of any sitting fees paid to him for attending those meetings. Mr Guyula is checking bank records to confirm this.

Mr Trudgen said his boss – who is due to attend his first session of Parliament as the Member for Nhulunbuy on Tuesday – accepted the need for the electoral commission to investigate the allegations.

“This process needs to exist because people can use government authority to procure votes, so let’s get on with it. The rules exist to protect voters, we’re not afraid of that,” he said.

If Mr Guyula’s election is deemed invalid, it could pave the way for the resurrection of the political career of former Labor deputy leader Lynne Walker.

In the biggest shock of the August election, Mr Guyula nabbed the seat from Ms Walker by just seven votes.