Culleton, staff still using Perth office

It is nearly a week since Rod Culleton lost his Senate seat but he is fighting on and neither he nor his staff have left his office.

Rod Culleton

Nearly two weeks since Rod Culleton lost his Senate seat, neither he or his staff have left his office. Source: AAP

Nearly a week after he was removed from his senate seat for being declared bankrupt, Rod Culleton is refusing to accept the Federal Court and Senate's rulings and says he is "not going anywhere".

The 52-year-old farmer says he is preparing a legal challenge to his removal.

However he has "conceded to a self-imposed moratorium" in which he will not attend functions as a senator.

He also said he was proud of the job he had done in five short months as a senator.

At a press conference at the Perth electoral office he still occupied on Monday, he rattled off his achievements.

That included developing the "terms of reference" for a banking Royal Commission and exposing the "crime scene" in the banking and finance industry.

He had "made his indelible mark on history's page", he said.

The press conference was abruptly cut short when he was asked how he was being paid or was paying staff when he was officially no longer a senator.

"My lawyers have politely written to Senator (Senate President Stephen) Parry, I believe the government has prematurely shot the gun ... Senator Parry has usurped his powers that he doesn't have," he told reporters.

His vacancy could be filled by the second person on the One Nation ticket, Mr Culleton's brother-in-law Peter Georgiou, or the party can nominate a replacement, which is still to be determined.

Mr Culleton was declared bankrupt in the Federal Court over a $280,000 debt that he had failed to pay to businessman Dick Lester, automatically making him ineligible to be a senator.

Mr Culleton had a legal win on Monday when another creditor's petition seeking to declare him bankrupt was thrown out.


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Source: AAP



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