Australia - Daniel Wills: Nick Xenophon team rides wave of discontent
Daniel Wills, The Advertiser
July 2, 2016 12:30pm
AS RESULTS begin rolling in tonight, South Australia is set to become one of the biggest stories of a marathon federal election campaign, turning recent political history on its head.
Beneath the nationwide battle between Labor and the Coalition to decide who forms government, the Nick Xenophon Team’s emergence could be a tectonic shift for SA politics.
And this may just be the first campaign where it creates shockwaves; Senator Xenophon has told The Advertiser he is also considering a serious tilt as the state election in March 2018.
The Greens and Democrats have each capitalised on a trend of dwindling confidence in the major parties and a breakdown in traditional brand loyalties, but neither has even been able to dream of the massive vote which polls show NXT is likely to record at SA ballot boxes today.
There is a serious possibility Senator Xenophon and his unheralded team of unknown candidates could wake up tomorrow morning as a true third force in SA, with seats in both houses. The NXT scored a huge Senate result in 2013, capitalising on both the chaos of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era and nagging public doubts about would-be prime minister Tony Abbott. Scoring close to 25 per cent of the vote, Senator Xenophon personally outpolled the entire Labor Party and went within a few points of eclipsing even the Coalition on primary votes.
Today, he’s seeking to do the same thing in the house where government is formed. A recent Newspoll places NXT on 29 per cent of the SA primary vote. It is a threat in almost every Lower House seat from Stirling to Streaky Bay, and terrifying both major parties. Clearly there’s something about Senator Xenophon personally that appeals to a lot of voters. He brings an uncommon humour to national politics and, untethered by truly hard choices that come with the burden government, Senator Xenophon is able to be all things to most people. But he’s also riding a wave of discontent that’s currently sweeping across the globe.
From Brexit to Donald Trump, voters have repeatedly shown they’re so frustrated with business as usual that they’re prepared to support radical change and just deal with the consequences later. And the trends driving it, chiefly the relentless march of globalisation, are being felt as acutely in SA as anywhere in the world. Whyalla and Adelaide’s northern suburbs have a clear kinship with Detroit in America’s Mid West and deindustrialised regions of the United Kingdom.
The major parties are struggling to take many people with them as the breakdown of borders and trade barriers improves general wealth while creating individual cases of extreme hard luck. Senator Xenophon started in the State Parliament after winning a minuscule vote as a No Pokies candidate in 1997, where independent John Darley remains today as an NXT representative.
Senator Xenophon is also responsible for electing one of the most erratic MPs SA Parliament has seen, gifting one-time running mate Ann Bressington eight years in the Upper House that were spent espousing conspiracy theories about fluoride, vaccinations and the New World Order...........
July 2, 2016 12:30pm
AS RESULTS begin rolling in tonight, South Australia is set to become one of the biggest stories of a marathon federal election campaign, turning recent political history on its head.Beneath the nationwide battle between Labor and the Coalition to decide who forms government, the Nick Xenophon Team’s emergence could be a tectonic shift for SA politics.
And this may just be the first campaign where it creates shockwaves; Senator Xenophon has told The Advertiser he is also considering a serious tilt as the state election in March 2018.
The Greens and Democrats have each capitalised on a trend of dwindling confidence in the major parties and a breakdown in traditional brand loyalties, but neither has even been able to dream of the massive vote which polls show NXT is likely to record at SA ballot boxes today.
There is a serious possibility Senator Xenophon and his unheralded team of unknown candidates could wake up tomorrow morning as a true third force in SA, with seats in both houses. The NXT scored a huge Senate result in 2013, capitalising on both the chaos of the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era and nagging public doubts about would-be prime minister Tony Abbott. Scoring close to 25 per cent of the vote, Senator Xenophon personally outpolled the entire Labor Party and went within a few points of eclipsing even the Coalition on primary votes.
Today, he’s seeking to do the same thing in the house where government is formed. A recent Newspoll places NXT on 29 per cent of the SA primary vote. It is a threat in almost every Lower House seat from Stirling to Streaky Bay, and terrifying both major parties. Clearly there’s something about Senator Xenophon personally that appeals to a lot of voters. He brings an uncommon humour to national politics and, untethered by truly hard choices that come with the burden government, Senator Xenophon is able to be all things to most people. But he’s also riding a wave of discontent that’s currently sweeping across the globe.
From Brexit to Donald Trump, voters have repeatedly shown they’re so frustrated with business as usual that they’re prepared to support radical change and just deal with the consequences later. And the trends driving it, chiefly the relentless march of globalisation, are being felt as acutely in SA as anywhere in the world. Whyalla and Adelaide’s northern suburbs have a clear kinship with Detroit in America’s Mid West and deindustrialised regions of the United Kingdom.
The major parties are struggling to take many people with them as the breakdown of borders and trade barriers improves general wealth while creating individual cases of extreme hard luck. Senator Xenophon started in the State Parliament after winning a minuscule vote as a No Pokies candidate in 1997, where independent John Darley remains today as an NXT representative.
Senator Xenophon is also responsible for electing one of the most erratic MPs SA Parliament has seen, gifting one-time running mate Ann Bressington eight years in the Upper House that were spent espousing conspiracy theories about fluoride, vaccinations and the New World Order...........
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