[10] The Liberal Party described her as a "passionate advocate for rural and regional New South Wales, having led campaigns to improve transport options and health services for the bush".
[12] Hughes began the network following the diagnosis of her middle child with autism, recognising a lack of support and relevant information available to families in regional areas regarding the condition.
[14] At the 2016 double dissolution election, Hughes ran for the Senate to represent New South Wales, in the sixth position on the Coalition ticket, which was considered to be unwinnable.
45 minutes after the ruling that Nash was ineligible was handed down, Hughes resigned from her position on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, in an attempt to ensure her eligibility for election to the Senate.
The primary issues of contention were the timing of Hughes' appointment to the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the subsequent recount which took place.
[19] In the judgement, delivered by Chief Justice Susan Kiefel and Justices Virginia Bell, Stephen Gageler, Patrick Keane and James Edelman, the court noted that the prevailing issue was "whether holding that disqualifying office during the discrete period between 1 July and 27 October was enough to render Ms Hughes incapable of being chosen".
[20] The issue facing the Court was whether Hughes' appointment in 2017 had occurred during the "election period" and thus whether she held an office of profit under the crown prior to or during the process of her being chosen as a Senator.
[20] The summons made by the attorney general for Hughes to be declared duly elected to the Senate, following the special count, was dismissed.
Considering Hughes' appointment as a part-time member of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on 1 July 2017, the Court held that the position made her "incapable of being chosen" under Section 44(iv) of the Commonwealth Constitution.
[19] The "voluntary step" taken by Hughes, in accepting a government job, meant that she effectively relinquished "the opportunity to benefit in the future from any special count of the ballot papers.
[citation needed] In June 2018, it was reported that Hughes had been ousted from her position as Liberal Party Country Vice-President, after it was revealed that she was living on the North Shore of Sydney.
She and runner-up Andrew Bragg out-polled an incumbent senator, Jim Molan, who had been placed in the "unwinnable" fourth position on the ticket, below the candidate for the National Party.