Barton Deakin Brief: Senate Crossbench

4 August 2016

The 2016 federal election resulted in a large number of Senators elected that were not members of the two major parties. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives who are not part of the Government or the Labor Opposition are referred to collectively as the Senate ‘crossbench’.

This Barton Deakin Brief outlines the policy positions of the various minor parties that constitute the crossbench.

Background

Due to the six year terms of Senators, at a normal election (held every three years) only 38 of the Senate’s 76 seats are voted on. As the 2016 federal election was a double dissolution election, all 76 seats were contested.

To pass legislation a Government needs 39 votes in the Senate. As the Coalition won just 30 seats it will have to rely on the support of minor parties and independents to pass legislation when it is opposed by Labor.

Since the introduction of new voting reforms in the Senate, minor parties can no longer rely on the redistribution of above-the-line votes according to preference flows to satisfy the 14.3% quota (or, in the case of a double dissolution, 7.7%) needed to win a seat in Senate elections. The new Senate voting reforms allowed voters to control their preferences by numbering all candidates above the line, thereby reducing the effectiveness of preference deals that have previously resulted in Senators being elected with a small fraction of the primary vote.

To read Barton Deakin’s Brief on the Senate Voting Reforms, click here.

2016 Senate Composition

No single party will be able to form a majority in the Senate.

Party Senators Coalition 30 Liberal 21 National 3 Liberal-National 5 Country Liberal 1 26 9 Team 3 ’s One Nation 4 Family First Party 1

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SYDNEY/MELBOURNE/CANBERRA/BRISBANE/PERTH/WELLINGTON/HOBART/DARWIN

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party 1 Jacquie Lambie Network 1 Liberal Democrats 1

The key policy positions held by each party are outlined below:

The Greens

The Australian Greens are ’s third largest political party, holding one seat in the House of Representatives and nine seats in the Senate. The Greens parliamentary leader is Senator Richard Di Natale of Victoria.

The Greens’ policy positions included:

Supporting a Royal Commission into the Financial Sector; Developing a needs-based school funding system and maintaining the National Education Reform Agreement; Minimising production of nuclear energy and exports to stall the generation of nuclear waste; Increasing the amount of welfare provided through Newstart and Youth Allowance increasing provisions for housing affordability through Rent Assistance; Supplying families with 24 hours of Early Childhood Care a week; Targeting a goal of using 90% clean energy by 2030 and installing a ban new coal mines and fracking projects; Supplying $1.2 billion for the Great Barrier Reef Repair Loan facility and a cap on water quality pollution and fund a $5 million campaign to promote the Clean Energy Finance Corporation; Increasing the number of Family Reunion visas for migrants to 10,000 per year; and A 20% tax levied on sugary drinks.

The Greens Senator Robert Simms lost his seat in , reducing the party’s total representation in the Senate to nine since the 2013 election. However, they remain the largest minor party voting bloc in the Senate.

Nick Xenophon Team

The Nick Xenophon Team is led by South Australia Senator Nick Xenophon, who was first elected to the Senate as an independent at the 2007 federal election, taking his seat in 2008. Prior to this Senator Xenophon was an independent member of the South Australian Legislative Council, where the NXT continues to hold a seat.

The Nick Xenophon Team campaigned at the election on a number of issues, including:

Strengthening competition laws to penalise abuse of market power through an effects test; Introducing more comprehensive labelling laws for Australian-made products and tighter anti-dumping laws for imports; Introducing an Emissions Trading Scheme;

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Implementing of the Gonski reforms for school funding; Lowering the current Foreign Investment Review Board investment threshold to increase vetting of foreign investments and introducing tighter investment laws; Supporting the Australian shipping and defence industries through government procurement; Increasing the scope of gambling laws to restrict gambling advertising; and Supporting a Royal Commission into the Financial Services Sector.

The Nick Xenophon Team won three seats in Senate, all representing South Australia. In addition to Senator Xenophon, Mr Stirling Griff was elected from his position as number two on the party’s ticket, as was the number three position holders Ms Skye Kakoschke-Moore. Mr Griff has worked in banking and marketing, and was CEO of the Retail Traders Association. Ms Kakoschke-Moore has previously worked as a staffer for Senator Xenophon.

The Nick Xenophon Team also won a seat in the House of Representatives. Rebekha Sharkie was elected to the House of Representatives in the seat of Mayo, South Australia.

Jacquie Lambie Network

The Jacquie Lambie Network was formed by former Palmer United Party-turned-independent Senator Jacquie Lambie. Senator Lambie was elected as a Palmer United Senator for Tasmania at the 2013 election, but left the party to sit as an independent in 2014.

The Network’s policy commitments include:

Increasing defence spending to provide greater resources for the Australian Defence Force; Re-introducing voluntary national service to support increased defence personnel and assist in lowering youth unemployment; Introducing special taxation levied on financial market transaction profits; and Supporting renewable energy policies such as bolstering hydroelectricitycapability and nuclear power generation.

Senator Lambie was re-elected to her position in the Senate, the only representative from the Jacquie Lambie Network to be elected.

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party

Derryn Hinch’s Justice Party is led by Melbourne radio host Derryn Hinch. Mr Hinch has long campaigned strongly against the anonymity of sex offenders after their release. Mr Hinch has indicated policy positions including:

Judicial reform in sentencing for violent crimes and tighter bail restrictions for offenders; Support for same sex marriage; Encouraging the legislation of voluntary euthanasia; and Supporting of law reform in anti-domestic violence legislation.

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Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party

The Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party is led by former House of Representatives independent Pauline Hanson. Mr Hanson represented the division of Oxley in the Parliament from 1996 to 1998. Ms Hanson and her party have been criticised by some as being racist for their anti- immigration and anti-Islam positions.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party’s policies include:

Opposing taxes on carbon including an emission trading scheme and Carbon Tax; Increasing the aged pension to older Australians; Introducing tighter restrictions on Australian-made labelling laws to support Australian manufacturing; “Fair trade not Free Trade” – abandonment of Australia’s global trade obligations and involvement with the IMF and UN; Support for the legalisation of medical cannabis; and Calls for a ban on further immigration from Islamic countries, an end Halal certification in Australia and conducting a Royal Commission in Islam.

Pauline’s Hason’s One Nation Party had four Senators elected at the 2016 federal election. In addition to Ms Hanson, candidates Malcolm Roberts, Brian Burston and Rod Culleton have been elected. Mr Roberts was the number two candidate on One Nation’s Queensland ticket, after Ms Hanson. He has a background in mining and business, and is a critic of the scientific consensus on climate change and the CSIRO. Mr Burston was the number one candidate for the party’s New South Wales Senate ticket. He has been a local councillor and Deputy Mayor in local government and has worked as a parliamentary advisor. Mr Burston has previously worked at an architect and taught architecture at TAFE. Mr Culleton was the number one senate candidate in Western Australia, and has worked in agriculture and business.

Liberal Democratic Party

The Liberal Democratic Party is a libertarian party formed in 2001. Senator David Leyonhjelm was elected to represent New South Wales at the 2013 election with 9.5 per cent of the primary vote. He was re-elected in 2016.

The Liberal Democrats’ main policy priorities include:

Opposition to anti-smoking legislation and gun control legislation; Favours the reduction of penalty rates; Supports the tabling of legislation surrounding voluntary euthanasia; Campaigning for a flat tax rate of 20% on income and companies, and reducing the taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and fuel; Supports legalisation of marijuana; Supports reaching balanced Federal budgets, implemented by a reduction in spending; and Supports for same-sex marriage.

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Family First Party

The Family First Party is based around conservative social values and the structure of the traditional family. Senator Bob Day of the Family First Party in South Australia was elected in 2013, taking his Senate seat in 2014. He was the only Family First candidate to be elected at the federal election. The party also has representatives in state parliaments, including Hon Dennis Hood and Hon Rob Brokenshire in the South Australia Legislative Council.

Policies of the Family First Party include:

Opposing euthanasia; Advocating parental approval for LGBTI education in schools; Amending the section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act to remove the prohibition on causing offence or insult; Removing shop penalty rates; Opposition to wind turbines; and Stronger border protection to end people smuggling.

For further information, please contact Grahame Morris on +61 411 222 680, David Alexander on +61 457 400 524, Vanessa Findlay on +61 407 895 813, or Christopher Reside on + 61 400 829 933.

To stay up to date with the affairs of Coalition Governments and Oppositions around Australia, you can follow Barton Deakin on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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