Independent Senator Nick Xenophon told Neos Kosmos this week that after approval by the Electoral Commission he will contest the federal election as the Nick Xenophon Group, allowing him to be listed alongside the major parties on the ballot paper.
Xenophon says electoral rules work against independents, forcing them to be listed below the line where it is harder for voters to notice them.
“I’m a reluctant party animal but this is done out of necessity,” said the senator.
“The rules are stacked against independents, if I want to run with just my name I’d have to have the name below the line.”
Asked if he was taking a leaf out of Queensland MP Bob Katter’s book in forming his own party, Xenophon said there was no comparison.
“My good friend Bob Katter wants to rule the world, I just want to get re-elected to the Senate.”
Xenophon, who described the night of Labor’s caucus vote which brought Julia Gillard’s downfall as being “so weird [that] it makes Alice in Wonderland look like a documentary”, said the federal election that weeks ago was on track to be the biggest election rout in Australia since 1931, would now be competitive.
“As far as recycling goes, for years governments have encouraged us to recycle for the sake of the environment; it now seems recycling might be good for a political party as well,” said the South Australian senator.
Whilst some commentators suggest he will retain his Senate seat with some ease, the senator says he will have to pull out all the stops to make his voice heard against the big parties.
“I’ll be fighting for every vote because I’m up against it,” he told Neos Kosmos.
“I don’t have the resources of the major parties. I’m working on a grassroots campaign and one of my biggest challenges is to get volunteers.”
Xenophon says that three of the major issues to sway the electorate will be the parties’ plans for the economy, employment and asylum seekers.
“We need a resolution to this whole issue of border security. I’m worried about the cost to the budget, and we need to be smart about how to meet our international obligations.”
On the Carbon Tax, with the Coalition signed up on a promise to repeal it, Xenophon has gone on record as saying that it must be replaced by a more efficient system of putting a price on carbon
For the senator, Tony Abbott’s Direct Action plan doesn’t cut it.
Xenophon has called the plan “grossly inefficient” but accepts that it could be adapted into an efficient emissions trading scheme.
The senator has regularly voiced his support for a ‘carrot and stick’ model developed by the economic think-tank Frontier Economics, which rewards low-emission industries while punishing high-emission industries.
If Xenophon was to hold the balance of power in the Senate after the election, a deal with the Coalition based on a Xenophon-influenced Direct Action plan could well be on the cards.
Never one to shy away from foreign policy issues, when asked about FYROM – and recent attempts by a handful of federal MPs to adjust Australia’s policy in relation to its naming – Xenophon says he continues to support Australia’s current position.
“But we should chill [on that issue],” he says.
“One of the great things about Australia is that we have a great degree of harmony between communities who are rivals in other countries.
“There are good reasons for the Greek government’s position, but it’s not an issue I have been agitating on,” said the senator.
“I’m interested in people having jobs, in how we can prevent dumped products from overseas killing our manufacturing jobs. I’m interested in decent food labelling laws and proper gambling laws.”