Re-elected Port Hedland Councillor Adrian McRae rejects swearing in ceremony amid election fraud allegations

Re-elected Port Hedland councillor Adrian McRae has refused to be sworn into office, citing election fraud allegations as his reason. It comes after a handful of voters made complaints to police and the WAEC that their ballots had been stolen from their mailboxes, submitted without their permission and scanned by the Western Australian Electoral Commission. Police confirmed as of April 2 the investigation into the allegations remain ongoing. Mr McRae, who was previously on the council before it was disbanded in September last year, said he couldn’t in good conscience be sworn in due to the allegations. He is not able to act in the capacity of councillor until he is sworn in. Speaking to the North West Telegraph on April 1, he said to participate in the ceremony would be to “validate and personally accept” the results of the election which he claims, “the entire town of Port Hedland” assumes was wrought with “inconsistencies, interference” and “clear evidence of ballot tampering”. “The damage done to the so-called integrity of our local government democratic process is immeasurable.” Mr McRae said he would like to see anyone caught interfering with the process to be “prosecuted to the full extent of the law” and for the election to be run again in-person. “Anything less will never be without doubt and suspicion, by a large percentage of Port Hedland electors. I would also expect that our town, never again, accepts mail-in voting as an acceptable form of holding an election,” he said. “The precedent has been set by the WA Court of Disputed Returns (Supreme Court) that even one proven false vote, is enough to nullify an entire election.” While it is believed there was only a handful of ballot stealing complaints which have not yet been substantiated, Mr McRae says he suspects the true numbers could be “into the hundreds” but admitted the true number was unknown. A Department of Local Government, Industry Regulation and Safety spokesperson said whether an election should be declared invalid was a matter for the Court of Disputed Returns. “The court alone has jurisdiction in matters concerning the validity of an election,” the spokesperson said, adding that if Mr McRae was not sworn in within two months following the election his seat would become vacant and offered to the next eligible unelected candidate in line as per the Local Government Act 1995. Mr McRae said he was willing to give up his seat if “nothing was done to resolve” the issue. “I am absolutely prepared to give up my seat on council,” Mr McRae said. “The integrity of our democracy is at stake, and many millions of people have willingly given their lives to defend such principles.” “My seat on council pales into insignificance, compared with the frightening reality that we might not live in a free and fair democracy.” In 2024, Mr McRae was invited by Russian ambassador to Australia Alexey Pavlovsky to be an election scrutineer in that year’s presidential election after which he congratulated President Vladimir Putin on his victory in a Russian television broadcast. “In my memory, the world has never seen such a transparent and comprehensive victory as what we saw here over the last three days,” he said on Russia’s Channel One. Speaking to the North West Telegraph at the time, Mr McRae said the Russian election process “leaves the Australian system in its wake”. It came contrary to words from then-White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan who said on March 18, 2024, that the Russian election was “not something that met any kind of benchmark of being free or fair”.