Nick Xenophon returns to politics

Former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon has just dropped a bombshell that he is returning to politics and will once again run for the Senate.

The 63-year-old lawyer, who was a senator from 2007 to 2017, and lost a bid to be elected to state parliament in 2018, said he will run for the Senate this year as an independent.

“I took time off, focused on my work, my family and my elderly parents and became a political hermit, leaving it up to others to be involved in the political decisions that ultimately affect our lives, and those of our loved ones but I can no longer sit on the sidelines,” Mr Xenophon told Neos Kosmos.

“Incredibly, it’s gotten worse in Canberra. It’s nastier, much more destructive, full of hatred and bile that eats away at our nation’s core. Australia is more divided than ever and respect for politicians has reached a new low. It’s become trickier and meaner and ignores major issues. Parliament should be about debating, contest of ideas, not clash of personalities. So many politicians are too busy doing a job on each other, rather than doing a job we’re paying for. I must come back, to call them out and to speak out on the issues that need to be tackled. My view is to build bridges, not burn them,” said Mr Xenophon who will be running as an independent, alongside former Centre Alliance running mate Stirling Griff.

The odds are stacked against the former senator, as he won’t have a party to put his name above the line on the upper house ballot paper – a position only given to groups and parties.

“I won’t have the resources of the major parties. I won’t have their powerful donors,” he said.

“But what I do have is a burning passion and energy to fight for our state; for the issues that matter and to give everyday South Australians a genuine voice.”

Mr Xenophon suggested twice last year that he might run for election again while promoting a court case which he ultimately lost, in the US about the Ugg trademark.

Well known for his stunts and cut-through media presence, Nick Xenophon has been a political force in South Australia.

The Cyprian-Australian was a member of South Australia’s Legislative Council from 1997 to 2007 under the No Pokies banner and then was a senator from 2008 to 2017.

He was successfully re-elected in 2006, securing more than 20 per cent of the statewide vote, enough to get a running-mate Ann Bressington elected. Ms Bressington later spectacularly distanced herself from Mr Xenophon, declaring him “more spin than substance”.

Mr Xenophon quit state politics to run for the Senate in 2007, visiting the giraffe enclosure at Adelaide Zoo to declare he would “stick his neck out for South Australia”.

He was elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2014, before forming the Nick Xenophon Team to contest the 2016 double-dissolution election.

The campaign was a stunning success. Mr Xenophon’s fledgling party secured more than 21 per cent of the statewide Senate vote, securing three Senate seats and one in the House of Representatives.

He quit the Senate in 2017 to mount an ultimately unsuccessful bid to win the balance of power in the South Australian parliament.

Under the banner of a new party known as SA Best, Mr Xenophon appeared set to win a swag of seats at the 2018 SA election and was even named as preferred premier in opinion polls leading up to the date.

However, the polling did not translate to seat victories at the election, with SA Best failing to win a lower house seat, despite securing almost 15 per cent of the statewide vote.

His state-based party SA Best gained 1 per cent of the vote in last Saturday’s SA election.

Asked whether the public could expect to see trademark political stunts, Mr Xenophon quipped there would be “no Bollywood” — a reference to his 2018 SA campaign ad featuring music and dancing — but did not rule them out entirely.

“I don’t know. It’s a question of getting the message across. I like to think that my stunts always have a purpose but if I am successful, I will dance the ZORBA,” he said.

CAMPAIGNING FOR WHAT MATTERS
“Ultimately I am campaigning for what matters,” said the 63-year-old revealing that if he gets elected, he will be focusing on the areas of health, aged care, manufacturing, housing affordability, defence and defence jobs, as well as education.

“Housing affordability is a national crisis, and it needs to be treated as an emergency. This will be a priority for me. Same goes for our youth. I feel like we have lost our sense of optimism, we have abandoned interesting productive careers for our children, areas of our economy that we can create jobs, we need to bring all of that back.”

XENOPHON’S MESSAGE TO GREEK AUSTRALIANS
“My national identity is 50 per cent Cypriot 50 per cent Greek and 100 per cent Australian. It’s with great humility I am doing this. I am asking everyone to remember what I have done and to support me again. It’s a comeback.

“To all those who migrated from Greece; this country salutes you and the million others that came here. Australia is immeasurably a better and richer place because of you and this needs to be recognised by better aged care and for younger generation children and grandchildren of migrants we need good jobs, we need to look after our senior citizens but also have a fair society where people can thrive. Our health system is pretty good although under a lot of pressure,” he concluded.

neoskosmos.com