An
independent politician
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
is a person who has served in a political office while not affiliated to any
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
. Many of these have either resigned or been expelled from membership in political parties, and some have gone on to form their own political parties over time.
Background
In Australia, the federal and state governments all operate on a bicameral parliament, with a House of Representatives and a Senate each. Control of each house is formed by either a majority parliament, where a single party or a coalition of parties, holds enough seats to hold power through an electoral term in their own right. When a party is unable to win enough seats in an election, this is known as a "hung parliament", the larger parties are required to meet with smaller third parties and independents in order to make compromises and agreements in order to have a majority of seats, known as forming a minority government. Most elections in Australian history have resulted in Majority governments. In every case where there have been minority governments, the balance of power has been predominantly in the hands of Independent members of parliament, meaning the individual is not attached to, or affiliated with, a political party.
There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent:
* Parties only run a single candidate in the House of Representatives, in order to limit campaign costs and complexity. Some candidates attempt to become a candidate for a party in the pre-selection stage, and are unsuccessful. Instead of putting their support behind the successful pre-selectees, some choose to transition their efforts into an independent candidacy for office.
* Some independent politicians come from party backgrounds, and have either voluntarily withdrawn from parties due to factional or values-based misalignment or in protest of certain political actions, or have been removed by the party for similar reasons.
* Some independent politicians may not find enough common ground with the parties available, either from the positioning on the political spectrum, or the effectiveness in fulfilling their electoral mandate, and believe that standing apart from a party will prove more effective.
All politicians in Australia are still required to fulfil their obligations, if elected, regardless of whether they are independent or are part of a political party. All are also afforded the opportunity to speak on behalf of their electorate or district, if a member of the house of representatives, or state or region, if a member of the senate.
Federal
Before 2022 independents were not often elected to the federal
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia (officially the Federal Parliament, also called the Commonwealth Parliament) is the legislature, legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the monarch (represented by the ...
. Historically independents were more commonly elected to state parliaments. In 2022 seven new independents were elected to the House of Representatives of whom only one was previously active in one of the traditional political parties. Historically, many independents were former members of one of Australia's main parties, the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
, the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
and the
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an List of political parties in Australia, Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Au ...
. On 16 July 2013 a political party named the
Australian Independents
Patricia May Petersen is an Australian academic from Ipswich, Queensland.
Education
Petersen holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New South Wales and was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Queensland in 2002. Pe ...
was registered with the
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums.
Responsibilities
The AEC's main responsibility is to ...
. It was deregistered on 4 February 2016.
House of Representatives
As of 2022, eleven independents sit in the
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.
The term of members of the ...
:
Andrew Gee Andrew Gee may refer to:
* Andrew Gee (rugby league)
* Andrew Gee (politician)
See also
* Osher Günsberg, Australian television personality formerly known as Andrew G
{{hndis, Gee, Andrew ...
from
Calare in New South Wales,
Andrew Wilkie
Andrew Damien Wilkie (born 8 November 1961) is an Australian politician and independent federal member for Clark. Before entering politics Wilkie was an infantry officer in the Australian Army., Australian Parliament House Biographies; 19 Augu ...
from
Clark
Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
in Tasmania (former
Greens candidate),
Helen Haines
Helen Mary Haines (born 21 September 1961) is an Australian politician who has served as the independent MP for the Victorian seat of Indi since the 2019 federal election.
Early life and education
Haines grew up on a dairy farm in Colac in ...
from
Indi
Indi may refer to:
*Mag-indi language
*Division of Indi, an electoral division in the Australian House of Representatives
*Indi, Karnataka, a town in the state of Karnataka, India
*Instrument Neutral Distributed Interface, a distributed control sys ...
in Victoria,
Zali Steggall
Zali Steggall (born 16 April 1974) is an Australian politician, lawyer and former Olympic athlete. She has been independent member for Warringah since the 2019 Australian federal election when she defeated the incumbent, former Prime Minister ...
from
Warringah Warringah is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to:
*Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922
*Electoral ...
in New South Wales,
Kate Chaney
Katherine Ella Chaney (born 21 January 1975) is an Australian independent politician, who was elected to the Australian House of Representatives at the 2022 Australian federal election, succeeding Liberal Party MP Celia Hammond in the divisi ...
from
Curtin in Western Australia,
Zoe Daniel
Zoe Daniel is an Australian journalist, politician, columnist and broadcaster. She is the independent member of parliament for the Division of Goldstein following the 2022 Australian federal election, having defeated the incumbent Liberal Par ...
from
Goldstein in Victoria,
Dai Le
Dai Trang Le (Vietnamese: Lê Trang Đài) (born ) is an Australian politician currently serving as the federal member for Fowler, deputy mayor of Fairfield and councillor for Fairfield/Cabravale Ward.
Le arrived in Australia in 1979 as a r ...
from
Fowler in New South Wales,
Dr Monique Ryan from
Kooyong in Victoria,
Dr Sophie Scamps from
Mackellar in New South Wales,
Allegra Spender
Allegra Spender is an Australian politician and businesswoman who is the member of parliament for Wentworth since 2022. She is the third generation of her family to sit in federal parliament, after her grandfather Percy and father John. One of ...
from
Wentworth Wentworth may refer to:
People
* Wentworth (surname)
* Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder
* S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator
* Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...
in New South Wales and
Kylea Tink
Kylea Jane Tink (born 5 September 1970) is an Australian public relations expert, businesswoman and politician. She is a former managing director of Edelman Australia and chief executive of the McGrath Foundation. from
North Sydney in New South Wales.
Casual vacancies in the House of Representatives of independent members are filled in the same way as for party members, i.e., by a by-election.
Won election as independent
Not elected as independent
Senate
Independent
Senators are quite rare. In modern politics, independent
Brian Harradine
Richard William Brian Harradine (9 January 1935 – 14 April 2014) was an Australian politician who served as an independent member of the Australian Senate, from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving indep ...
served from 1975 to 2005 with considerable influence at times.
Nick Xenophon
Nick Xenophon ( Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon ...
was an elected independent Senator from his election to the Senate at the
2007 federal election. Xenophon was re-elected for another six-year term at the
2013 federal election. He was re-elected at the
2016 double dissolution election under the Nick Xenophon Team.
DLP Senator
John Madigan became an independent Senator in September 2014, but failed to be re-elected at the 2016 election.
PUP Senators
Jacqui Lambie
Jacquiline Louise Lambie (born 26 February 1971) is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to 2017.
Lambie, an ...
and
Glenn Lazarus
Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premier ...
became independent Senators in November 2014 and March 2015. At the 2016 election, Lazarus lost his seat and Lambie was re-elected under the Jacqui Lambie Network. In the 2022 election, former rugby player
David Pocock
David Willmer Pocock (born 23 April 1988) is an Australian politician and former professional rugby union player. Raised in Gweru, Zimbabwe, Pocock moved to Australia as a teenager and played for the Australia national rugby team. He played p ...
was elected as an independent Senator from the
ACT, becoming the first independent Senator from a territory and the first non-major party member of parliament from the ACT. Pocock is currently the only independent Senator.
On 21 May 1977, a
referendum
A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
to amend Section 15 of the Constitution was approved to require future
Senate casual vacancies to be filled by a member of the party represented by the former senator at the time of their election, if the state parliament chooses to fill the vacancy. However, this requirement does not apply to independent senators.
Won election or appointed as independent
Not elected as independent
States and territories
New South Wales
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
New South Wales Legislative Council
=Elected as independent
=
All of these MPs were indirectly elected by MPs under the former system between 1934 and 1978.
=Not elected as independent
=
Victoria
Victorian Legislative Assembly
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
Victorian Legislative Council
=Not elected as independent
=
Queensland
Queensland Legislative Assembly
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
Western Australia
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
Western Australian Legislative Council
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
South Australia
South Australian House of Assembly
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
South Australian Legislative Council
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
Tasmania
Upper house
*
Rosemary Armitage
Rosemary Lois Armitage (born 5 December 1955) is an Australian politician, an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council, representing the electoral division of Launceston since her election on 7 May 2011.
Prior to her election to ...
*
Robert Armstrong
*
Ivan Dean
Ivan Noel Dean (born 21 April 1945) is an Australian politician. He was an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council from 2003 to 2021, representing the electorate of Windermere. He also served as Mayor of Launceston from 2005 t ...
*
Kerry Finch
Kerry Finch (born 4 November 1948) is a former member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council or upper house for the electoral division of Rosevears, which mainly comprises the western side of the Tamar River valley from West Launceston up to Gre ...
*
Ruth Forrest
Ruth Jane Forrest (born 4 March 1962 in Burnie) is an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council in the electoral division of Murchison.
Forrest was first elected in May 2005. Following her first six-year term, she was the only ca ...
*
Mike Gaffney
Michael Victor Gaffney (born 30 November 1959) is an Australian politician. He has been an Independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council since 2009, representing the seat of Mersey.
Born in Devonport, Gaffney was trained as a teacher ...
*
Greg Hall
*
Tony Mulder
Teunis "Tony" Mulder (born 9 May 1955 in Rotterdam, Netherlands)[Inaugural sp ...](_blank)
*
Tania Rattray
Tania Verene Rattray (born 28 March 1958) is an independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council (upper house) in the division of McIntyre.
Rattray was educated at Winnaleah Area School and Scottsdale High School. Before becoming a f ...
*
Adriana Taylor
Adriana Johanna Taylor (born 20 August 1946) is an Australian politician. She was an Independent member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council for Elwick from 2010 to 2016.
She was born in Tilburg in the Netherlands,[Rob Valentine
Robert Henry Francis Valentine (born 15 June 1950) is an Australian politician. He was the Lord Mayor of the City of Hobart local government area, in the State of Tasmania, Australia, from 1999 to 2011. In 2012, he was elected to the Tasmania ...]
*
Jim Wilkinson
Australian Capital Territory
Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
Northern Territory
Northern Territory Legislative Assembly
=Won election as independent
=
=Not elected as independent
=
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Independent (Politician)
Political terminology in Australia
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...