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Independents - Parliamentary Education Office

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An independent is a member of the Australian Parliament who does not belong to a political party. This fact sheet explores their role, how they can vote in the Parliament and where they sit.

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Why become an independent? Allegra Spender

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Why become an independent? Allegra Spender

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PM’s performance at COP26 behind Allegra Spender’s tilt at seat of Wentworth

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The realisation that Scott Morrison was “never going to get there” at the climate conference in Glasgow was the tipping point for Carla Zampatti’s daughter to run in next year’s federal election.

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Why did Nick Xenophon serve as an independent?

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Why did Nick Xenophon serve as an independent?

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Nicholas Xenophon (né Xenophou; 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's SA-BEST in South Australia. In October 2017, Xenophon resigned from the Australian Senate to contest a seat in the House of Assembly at the 2018 South Australian state election. From 1997 to 2007, he was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council, serving as an independent on a No Pokies policy platform. When the Nick Xenophon Team changed its name to Centre Alliance, Xenophon himself ceased to be directly involved with the party.

Xenophon initially focused on his central anti-gambling policy, but also embraced other issues in federal parliament such as civil liberties, defence, education, foreign policy, health, infrastructure, manufacturing, national security, and regional affairs.

Xenophon failed in his central mission to have poker machines curbed or eliminated in a lasting way, but was instrumental in the Rudd Government's repeal of WorkChoices legislation and the passage of the economic stimulus package, as well as the Abbott Government's repeal of the Clean Energy Act 2011. Additionally, Xenophon was pivotal in the obstruction of the Abbott Government's 2014 austerity budget, the plan to build next generation submarines overseas, and the Pyne higher education reforms.

Xenophon (born Xenophou) was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the older of two children to Theo Xenophou from Cyprus, and Georgia from Greece.

Xenophon attended Prince Alfred College, and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Adelaide. From 1976 until 1981, he was a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and the Young Liberals. In his first year, Xenophon was elected on the Adelaide University Liberal Club ticket to student magazine. At the end of his eighteen-month term, Xenophon wrote as a whistleblower in On Dit that the Young Liberals had rigged the vote in order to secure the unlikely victory of their editing team.

According to Xenophon, the party politics of the On Dit incident disenchanted him, although some Labor members maintain that he considered joining the Australian Labor Party while at university. In 2015, the publishers of former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard's 2014 memoir My Story retracted an allegation that Xenophon had been "infamously excluded from university for a period as punishment for stuffing a ballot box full of voting papers he had somehow procured".

In 1982 and 1983, Xenophon worked as a lawyer in the private practice of Jacob van Dissel. In 1984, van Dissel gave Xenophon the personal injury part of his practice, enabling Xenophon to become principal of his new firm, Xenophon & Co. Lawyers. The firm continues and deals primarily with workers compensation and personal injury claims on a no-win-no-fee basis.

In 1994 and 1997, Xenophon served as President of the South Australian branch of the Australian Plaintiff Lawyers' Association. During this time, he also taught law at the University of South Australia, where his future political opponent Christopher Pyne was among his students.

In 2019, it was reported by the Australian Financial Review that his law firm was representing Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei, who he claims have "been treated incredibly unfairly". He also represents the military whistleblower, David McBride.

In 2008, The Australian quoted many Liberal and Labor politicians who believed Xenophon had shown himself to be a "lightweight" political opportunist during his decade in state politics.

In 2012, Xenophon co-sponsored a bill with Victorian Senator John Madigan to restrict federal government subsidies for wind farms. Xenophon's concerns about wind turbines were predominantly related to anecdotal evidence of health problems and the reliability of wind-sourced power.

In 2015, Xenophon appealed in person to Indonesia's largest Islamic body to support a reprieve for two Australian convicted drug smugglers sentenced to death in Bali. Xenophon's translator reportedly stated, "We are aware that the death penalty is the right of the Indonesian government. Therefore, we do not ask that it be cancelled but plead that it be delayed".

Political career, 1997-2018

At the 1997 state election, Xenophon stood for the South Australian Legislative Council under an Independent No Pokies ticket, advocating the reduction and abolition of poker machines (colloquially known as "pokies"). He received a vote of 2.86 percent, a statewide total of 25,630 votes - much less than the 8.33 per cent needed to be elected in his own right - but by receiving a large number of preferences first from microparties and then from Grey Power, he went from a quota of 0.34 to 1.08 and was therefore elected. This made Xenophon the first independent elected to the Legislative Council in 60 years.

Following the 1997 election, the Olsen Liberal government needed the support of an additional two non-Liberal upper house members in order to pass legislation, with the Australian Democrats retaining the balance of power on three seats. However, defectors from Labor in the upper house, Terry Cameron and Trevor Crothers, often brought Xenophon in to play. In 1998, Xenophon voted with Cameron and the government to proceed with the second reading of the ETSA power sale bill. The bill became law when Cameron and Crothers voted with the Liberal government, although Xenophon voted against the bill in its final form. Following the election of the Rann Labor government at the 2002 state election, the government needed an additional five non-Labor upper house members to pass legislation, giving a shared balance of power to the Democrats on three seats, incumbent independents Xenophon and Cameron, with the Family First Party winning their first seat.

Xenophon was an activist for a range of issues apart from the elimination of poker machines, speaking out on consumer rights, essential services, the environment, taxation, and perks for politicians. Xenophon was also vocal in the Eugene McGee hit-run affair, becoming an advocate for the victim's wife, with public opinion eventually forcing the Kapunda Road Royal Commission that led to harsher laws for hit-run offences.

At the 2006 state election, he ran an aggressive campaign and attracted considerable publicity through a range of imaginative stunts, including riding a model locomotive "gravy train" outside Parliament House to protest MPs' superannuation entitlements, parading along Rundle Mall wearing a sandwich board to advertise his campaign, and bringing a small goat to Parliament urging voters not to "kid around" with their vote. Despite media speculation that he would struggle to be re-elected due to the major parties preferencing against him, he attracted sufficient funding and volunteers to staff most state booths on polling day. He received 190,958 first preferences or 20.51 per cent of the total vote, enough to not only be re-elected himself, but also to elect the second No Pokies candidate, Ann Bressington. His total was 5.46 per cent less than the Liberal Party, and he outpolled the Liberals in some booths, including the electoral district of Enfield. With the Labor government needing four non-Labor upper house members to pass legislation, No Pokies on two seats shared the balance of power with Family First on two seats, the Democrats on one seat, with the SA Greens winning their first seat.

2007 election campaign

On 11 October 2007, Xenophon called a press conference at the Adelaide Zoo in front of the giraffe enclosure, declaring he would "stick his neck out for South Australia" by announcing his resignation from the South Australian Legislative Council in an attempt to gain election to the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election. His platform consisted of anti-gambling and consumer protection measures, attention to the water crisis affecting the Murray River, ratifying Kyoto, opposition against a "decrease in state rights", and opposition to WorkChoices. Nick Minchin, a Liberal senator from South Australia, urged people not to vote for Xenophon. Due to running as an independent Xenophon's name did not appear above the line on the ticket, instead he was represented only by the letter "S" above the line, with voters having to search for his details.

As Xenophon had vacated his Legislative Council seat to run for the Senate, a joint sitting of the South Australian parliament was convened for 21 November 2007 to select Xenophon's replacement. Former valuer-general John Darley, who had stood as the third candidate on Xenophon's ticket in 2006, was appointed. During the joint sitting convened to confirm the nomination, Ann Bressington criticised Xenophon, questioning his integrity and suitability for federal parliament, suggesting that his "anti-politician" image was more spin than reality. She also said Xenophon had demanded she contribute $50,000 towards campaign expenses at the 2006 state election. Xenophon said in response that he was "shocked and hurt" and "deeply upset" that she had failed to share her concerns with him in person, saying "privately and publicly, I have been very supportive of her." Some people whose causes Xenophon had championed also came forward to defend Xenophon, like Di Gilcrist, whose husband's hit and run death resulted in the Kapunda Road Royal Commission. In an interview the following day, Ms Gilcrist said "based on my experience not only as a victim who's dealt with Nick but also somebody who's worked with Nick and his office... Nick is passionate and he cares and he is empathetic. And he is truly committed." Lower House independent Kris Hanna also defended Xenophon, arguing Bressington had "obviously been out to do some damage" and injure Xenophon's election chances.

Towards the end of the campaign, Xenophon walked a large mule down Rundle Mall to symbolise his stubbornness. Xenophon received 14.78 percent of the vote. This was down from his 2006 state election result of over 20%.

First term (2008-2014)

Xenophon shared the balance of power in the Senate with the Australian Greens and the Family First Party. The First Rudd Government required the support of two crossbench senators or the opposition to pass legislation.

In February 2009, the Rudd Government needed to pass its $42 billion economic stimulus package. Xenophon initially voted against the package, but ultimately voted in favour after amendments were made. Xenophon persuaded the government to bring forward $900 million in Murray-Darling basin funds and other water projects, which included $500 million over three years for water buybacks.

In November 2009, Xenophon labelled the Church of Scientology as a criminal organisation, alleging members had experienced blackmail, torture and violence, labour camps and forced imprisonment, and coerced abortions. On 7 September 2010, a Senate committee recommended that a charities commission be formed with the purpose of investigating and monitoring transparency of charitable organisations. This recommendation received bipartisan support.

In July 2011, Xenophon lost the balance of power to the Greens, however his anti- pokies stance was bolstered when independent Andrew Wilkie was elected to the lower house at the 2010 election, resulting in a hung parliament. Wilkie had campaigned heavily against pokies at the election. In exchange for Wilkie's support, the Gillard Government legislated for mandatory precommitment technology which would require people using high-bet machines to pre-commit how much they were willing to bet on a machine before actually playing, as well as introducing safer $1 maximum bet per spin machines, which would not require pre-commitment. The plan came under sustained attack from sporting clubs and various businesses that financially benefit from poker machine use.

In September 2011, Xenophon controversially used parliamentary privilege to accuse a Catholic priest of rape, in regard to accusations around events that occurred in the 1960s. He also accused Monsignor David Cappo and Philip Wilson, the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, of failing to properly investigate the allegations in 2007. All three men denied the senator's claims. Xenophon chose such action after receiving an "unsatisfactory" response from the Church when advising them of his intentions and ultimatum. Cappo subsequently stepped down from several of his public positions. Several days later, after high-level media coverage, Xenophon indicated he might not have used parliamentary privilege had he known the person he accused was about to take a period of leave.

In November 2011, Xenophon voted against the Clean Energy Bill. The carbon pricing scheme passed with the Labor government receiving Green support for the legislation in the Senate.

In May 2012, Xenophon - a vocal supporter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim - visited Malaysia to independently observe anti-government protests. The New Straits Times questioned Xenophon's impartiality in an article, which included part of his 2009 speech criticizing Scientology. The newspaper replaced Scientology with the word Islam. Xenophon threatened to sue for defamation, and the article was removed from the newspaper's website.

In February 2013, Xenophon attempted independently to revisit Malaysia but was detained by immigration authorities at Kuala Lumpur airport. He was later sent back to Australia. It was confirmed that Xenophon was not on an Australian Delegation list scheduled to meet the Malaysian parliamentary affairs minister.

2013 election campaign

During the 2013 federal election, Xenophon nominated four key policy issues; gaming machine reforms, stopping palm oil from being sold in Australia, breaking up the supermarket duopoly, and better deals for Riverland irrigators in the Murray-Darling basin rescue plan. Xenophon's voting result increased to 24.9 percent, a few percent short of two quotas. A record number of candidates stood at the election. Group voting tickets came under scrutiny because multiple candidates were provisionally elected with the vast majority of their 14.3 percent quotas coming from the preferences of other parties across the political spectrum.

Second term (2014-2016)

After returning to a balance of power position in the Senate, Xenophon focused on defence materiel, particularly the Collins-class submarine replacement project, and cuts made by the Abbott Government in the 2014 Australian federal budget.

In December 2014, Xenophon voted against the tertiary education reforms proposed by Minister for Education and Training Christopher Pyne which would have seen a shift towards privatisation of universities in Australia.

In March 2015, Xenophon opposed the amendments to the national security legislative framework, particularly on the issue of telecommunications data retention. In his 2014 "spycatcher" speech to the Senate, Xenophon stated that the new laws would have a chilling effect on investigative journalism in Australia. Xenophon negotiated with then Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison for the reintroduction of the Temporary Protection Visa.

In February 2016, Xenophon joined with the Australian Greens and the Government to support a reform of the Senate election system. Other crossbench senators, including John Madigan and David Leyonhjelm, whose re-election prospects would be bleak under the new voting arrangements, accused Xenophon of "political trickery of the highest order".

2016 election campaign

During the 2016 federal election campaign, Xenophon was the subject of attacks from both major political parties, including his failure to declare a directorship of Adelaide Tower Pty Ltd, which involved his father. Xenophon accused proponents of a "partisan and personal campaign". Labor requested the Australian Electoral Commission investigate questionable loans given to Xenophon by businessman Ian Melrose.

Third term (2016-2017)

In August 2016, Xenophon and NXT colleagues opposed the proposed same-sex marriage plebiscite on the basis that it was not binding and a waste of public resources.

In March 2017, Xenophon announced that he would launch a new party in time for the 2018 South Australian state election. In July 2017, Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST was registered by the Electoral Commission of South Australia.

In August 2017, Xenophon became embroiled in the 2017 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis and asked to be referred to the High Court for clarification of his 2016 eligibility. On 27 October 2017, the High Court found he had been eligible in 2016 to nominate and be validly elected.

On 6 October 2017, Xenophon announced that he would resign in order to stand for the Parliament of South Australia at the 2018 South Australian general election. On 31 October 2017, Xenophon resigned from the Senate, and was replaced by his party's senior advisor Rex Patrick.

On 19 August 2017, Xenophon announced that British authorities had confirmed that he was a British Overseas Citizen because his ethnic Greek father was born in Cyprus when it was a British colony. Xenophon's subsequent application to renounce that citizenship became effective on 30 August. Separately, Xenophon later said that he had already renounced Greek citizenship acquired through his mother. Xenophon asked the Australian government to have him referred to the High Court in the Court of Disputed Returns for consideration and clarification of his 2016 eligibility. On 27 October 2017, the High Court found that Xenophon had been eligible in 2016 to nominate and be validly elected.

On 17 March 2018, Xenophon unsuccessfully contested the seat of Hartley in the South Australian House of Assembly at the 2018 South Australian state election. Although he came second on the primary vote ahead of Labor's Grace Portolesi by 202 votes, upon the preference distribution of the eliminated fourth-placed Greens candidate, Xenophon's 99 vote lead over Labor became a 357-vote deficit. Third-placed Xenophon was therefore eliminated, with Hartley reverting to the traditional Liberal vs Labor contest.

On 2 December 2019 Huawei Australia announced that it had engaged Xenophon's services as an "external lawyer". The company was banned by the Australian government from providing 5G infrastructure. Xenophon said he would not be lobbying members of parliament on behalf of Huawei.

In 1990, Xenophon married physiotherapist Sandra Kazubiernis. When their only child was born in 1992, Xenophon changed his own surname by deed poll from Xenophou to Xenophon; his paternal grandfather's surname. Kazubiernis and Xenophon separated in 1995 and later divorced.

Xenophon had his second child in early 2019.

Allegations of abuse

In 2017, former staffer Jenny Low claimed, in response to an article appearing in The Australian, that she had been in a seven-year secret relationship with Xenophon that was psychologically abusive, "destructive" and detrimental to her career. Xenophon admitted that a relationship had commenced in 2007, but rejected any negative assertions.

1. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Centre Alliance website. Centre Alliance. Q. Why did you change your name from the Nick Xenophon Team to Centre Alliance? A. Nick Xenophon is no longer involved with the party so it was appropriate to change the party name to a name that reflects the common sense centrist approach the party takes when tackling issues.

2. ^ "Election 2016: Nick Xenophon takes an old student row to a Senate showdown". 3 June 2016.

3. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (24 July 2008). "Welcome to the Senate". Q&A: Adventures in Democracy.

4. ^ Ahwan, Lauren (6 February 2006). "SA: Stunt MP turns human sandwich board". Associated Press.

5. ^ Anderson, Laura (18 March 2006). "Vote for me, I kid you not, is Nick's message". The Advertiser. p. 11.

6. ^ Manning, Dr Haydon (December 2006). "Australian Political Chronicle: January-June 2006". Australian Journal of Politics and History. 52 (4): 668. ISSN 0004-9522.

7. McCarthy is a senior lecturer in politics at the ^ University of Adelaide.

8. ^ Debelle, Penelope (12 October 2007). "Fearful of Xenophon in Senate". The Age. Australia.

9. ^ Gout, Hendrik (20 February 2009). "Senator Xenophon's audacious bluff". The Independent Weekly. Adelaide, Australia.

10. "Bipartisan support for charities commission". . Australia Broadcasting Corporation. 7 September 2010.

11. ^ "Glen Druery - the 'preference whisperer'". ABC Brisbane. 21 August 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013.

12. ^ Bridie Jabour (13 September 2013). "'Preference whisperer' defends role in minor parties' Senate success". the Guardian.

13. ^ Spycatcher 1985 & National Security Bill 2014. YouTube. 25 September 2014. Archived from the original on 22 December 2021.

14. ^ "Labor ramps up opposition to 'pointless' same-sex marriage plebiscite". ABC News. 22 August 2016.

15. Lewis, Rosie (15 August 2017). "Now Xenophon enters the dual citizenship mix". The Australian. (paywalled).

16. ^ Bonyhady, Nick (2 December 2019). "'False and totally unsubstantiated': Xenophon goes after Huawei's critics". The Sydney Morning Herald.

17. ^ Bourke, Latika (3 December 2019). "'Sad end to his career': Liberal Senator blasts Nick Xenophon's Huawei evasion". The Sydney Morning Herald.

18. Purcell, Paul; Langenberg, Adam (3 November 2017). "SA Election 2018: Advance SA candidate Jenny Low claims former partner Nick Xenophon was 'manipulative and controlling'". The Advertiser.

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Nicholas Xenophon (né Xenophou; 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's SA-BEST in South Australia.

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Why did Rob Oakeshott run as an independent? What was he against and what issue did he care about?

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Why did Rob Oakeshott run as an independent? What was he against and what issue did he care about?

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Robert James Murray Oakeshott (born 14 December 1969) is an Australian politician. He was the independent Member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Lyne in New South Wales from 2008, when he won the 2008 Lyne by-election, until his retirement in 2013. Oakeshott described his views as economically conservative and socially progressive.

Oakeshott began his political career in state politics. Originally elected as the National Party candidate for the state seat of Port Macquarie in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1996, he left the party to become an Independent in 2002. Oakeshott retained the seat until 2008, when he resigned to contest the federal seat of Lyne, which he won with a large margin. He retained Lyne at the 2010 election, again with a large margin.

The 2010 election resulted in a hung parliament, with the diverse crossbench holding the balance of power. Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and other crossbenchers agreed to back the incumbent Gillard Labor government to form minority government, providing it with confidence and supply, while retaining the right to vote on conscience in any other matters.

Oakeshott retired at the 2013 election, choosing not to recontest his seat. Oakeshott contested the Division of Cowper at the 2016 election, challenging National incumbent Luke Hartsuyker. Cowper had absorbed Port Macquarie after the latest redistribution. Oakeshott lost the election, but managed to turn the once-safe National seat into a marginal seat.

On 15 January 2019, Oakeshott announced his candidacy for the seat of Cowper at the 2019 Australian federal election. The Nationals retained the seat with a small swing towards them.

Oakeshott was born in Lismore. His father, also named Rob Oakeshott, was a doctor in the area until his death in 2016 and his grandfather Captain John Oakeshott was a prisoner of war and survived the Sandakan Death Marches. His maternal grandfather was Sir Angus Murray, a President of the Australian Medical Association.

Oakeshott attended Barker College for his secondary schooling, and was a boarder in his later years there. He then studied a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Sydney. While there, he was a resident of St. Andrew's College when the Principal, Peter Cameron, was convicted of heresy by the Presbyterian Church of Australia. Oakeshott describes Cameron as an influence on his thinking:

As a student he was a pretty interesting fellow but standing on his digs over some of the speeches and some of the sermons he used to give. And in his parting speech to the students, he said, "I hope the great lesson I've taught you as the leader of this college is that you've got to stand up for what you believe in regardless of the consequences."

Oakeshott graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Government in 1992. He then worked as an administrative officer at the Road Transport Forum, for the lobbying company Resolutions, as a staffer for National Party Leader Mark Vaile, and in public relations for the Coalition in Canberra before his own election to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

He was elected as the National Party member for Port Macquarie at a by-election on 30 November 1996 after the retirement of National Party member Wendy Machin on 28 August, winning 46.71% of the primary vote against John Barrett, a former Liberal Party candidate who stood as an independent after the Liberals, then led by Peter Collins, decided not to run a candidate. However, the Nationals lost almost six percent of their primary vote from 1995, and their two-party majority fell to a marginal four percent. At his election, he was the youngest member of the NSW Legislative Assembly.

He stood again at the 1999 election, increasing his primary vote to 56.05% and his two-party vote to 66.6%, enough to revert Port Macquarie to its traditional status as a safe National seat. Under Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski, on 19 April 1999 he was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation and the Shadow Minister for Fisheries and Ports. Following a Shadow Cabinet reshuffle on 1 February 2000, Oakeshott lost Fisheries and Ports and took on the shadow portfolio of Gaming and Racing. However, he had become increasingly dissatisfied with the National Party, stating that he was the youngest person at most meetings he attended, and found himself in opposition to many of the party's policies.

Almost immediately after his election to the legislature, Oakeshott identified a number of points of disagreement. He was not at home with the party's strong conservatism on social policy; he recalled being "massively heavied" not to support a Labor bill for a safe injecting room trial. He was also unnerved by a senior National claiming that "blacks and poofters" were gaining too much influence in the party; he took particular offence to the former because his wife is of South Seas descent. He was also pressured to fall into line on the Nationals' staunch opposition to a republic.

He later said that he should have done "more due diligence" on the Nationals' ideology, saying that he would have never joined the party had he known about its conservative bent. He only did so because he was a budding political consultant and "they're the party around here, I'm a young bloke, I need a job." (Port Macquarie and its predecessor seat, Oxley, had been in the hands of a conservative party without interruption since 1927, and in the hands of the Nationals for all but six years since 1944.) He added that he didn't think the Nationals didn't do "enough due diligence on me" prior to clearing him to stand for Port Macquarie. He also questioned the relevance of the Nationals in an electorate transformed by demographic change and the growth of tourism. Increasingly, he concluded that as long as he remained in the National party room, he would be "a square peg in a round hole." He believed that he had three options-spend a decade in the legislature as a "robotron" National member, quit politics, or run as an independent.

Oakeshott resigned from both the shadow cabinet and the National Party on 9 March 2002. He subsequently retained the seat as an independent at the 2003 New South Wales State election, gaining 69.75% of the primary vote, compared to 14% for the National Party candidate. After preferences, he won 82 percent of the two-candidate vote, making Port Macquarie the safest seat in the legislature. He retained the seat almost as easily in 2007, winning 78 percent of the vote after preferences were distributed.

During his tenure as the state member for Port Macquarie Oakeshott completed a law degree at Macquarie University.

There were suggestions that Oakeshott would stand as an independent candidate at the 2004 federal election against his former boss and National Party leader Mark Vaile in the seat of Lyne, based on Port Macquarie, but he did not nominate.

In April 2008, following the defeat of the Howard Government, Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan approached Oakeshott to consider standing as a joint Liberal-National candidate in Lyne should Vaile retire and a by-election be called. He did not comment at the time because Vaile had not announced his intentions. After Vaile announced his resignation from Parliament on 19 July 2008, Oakeshott announced that he would consider standing for the seat in the ensuing by-election.

On 5 August 2008 Oakeshott resigned from the NSW parliament to stand as an independent candidate at the federal by-election for Lyne. His advisor, Peter Besseling, won the by-election for his state seat.

Oakeshott won virtually every booth in the electorate, receiving about two-thirds of the primary vote. The extent of his primary vote saw him receive more than $100,000 in electoral reimbursements from the Australian Electoral Commission.

In his first term, Oakeshott voted 32 times with the ruling Labor government (including in support of the proposed emission trading scheme) and nine times with the opposition. He has explained that this record was not indicative of support for Labor's policy platform, but rather because he believed in allowing governments to govern.

Second term - support for minority government

Oakeshott was re-elected in the 2010 Australian federal election. With neither Labor nor the Liberal/National Coalition having enough members to form government on their own, he became one of a number of independents whose support was sought by both sides in a bid to form a minority government. Among the legislation that he supported was the proposed emissions trading scheme. Oakeshott decided with the other incumbent independents, Bob Katter and Tony Windsor, to negotiate as a bloc. While holding different opinions on the issue of climate change, all three have highlighted broadband as a policy important to them. Oakeshott expressed his desire to establish stable government and raised concerns that a 76-seat government was "a by-election away from trouble" and, to avoid this, he proposed the formation of a government with ministers from both of the usually antagonistic major parties. If no stable government capable of governing for the full three-year term could be formed, he recommended that the government should call a new election.

On 7 September 2010, Oakeshott gave his backing to the formation of a Labor minority government. He made the announcement at the end of a 17-minute speech. After announcing his decision, he stated that he had been offered a ministry by Julia Gillard and would be considering the offer. On 10 September 2010 he announced that he had turned down becoming the minister for Regional Australia, a portfolio created because of the agreement between himself, Tony Windsor and the ALP. Oakeshott later released a statement saying that he would accept nomination to be the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives if he were nominated by another member, provided proposed Parliamentary reforms were put into place. In the event, he was not nominated, and Labor's Harry Jenkins was elected unopposed as speaker. Following Jenkins' resignation from the speakership in November 2011, Oakeshott was again offered the speakership, this time by opposition leader Tony Abbott, in a deal that would deliver government to the Liberal-National coalition. Oakeshott declined and Peter Slipper, a coalition MP, became speaker, allowing the Labor Party to continue in minority government.

Shortly before the Australian Labor Party leadership spill, 2012, Oakeshott stated that he would not, as a matter of course, continue to support the minority Labor Government if Labor changed leaders. He further stated that he would be prepared to work with whoever could provide stable government and would consider negotiating with the Liberal-National coalition to that end, although his preference would be to deal with former opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull over Tony Abbott. In the event, Prime Minister Julia Gillard survived the leadership spill and Oakeshott continued his support for the minority Labor Government, although he again expressed support for Turnbull over Abbott shortly after the leadership spill was decided.

Oakeshott's support for Labor didn't play well with his constituents. Despite his large personal majority, both his federal and state electorates were still comfortably safe National seats in "traditional" two-party matchups. Proving this, Besseling lost Port Macquarie to the Nationals' Leslie Williams at the 2011 state election partly due to voter anger at Oakeshott's support for Gillard.

Immigration legislation

In February 2012, Oakeshott introduced a private member's bill to allow the Australian Minister of Immigration to authorise sending asylum seekers to any country that is part of the Bali Process. In June 2012, following the sinking of two asylum seeker boats in the Indian Ocean within a week that resulted in significant loss of life, the bill was brought up for immediate debate in the House of Representatives. The bill, along with an amendment by independent MP Andrew Wilkie to make the legislation valid only for 12 months, was passed in the House of Representatives with the support of government members and independents. The bill, seen as a compromise between the Government's desire to allow processing of asylum seekers in Malaysia and the reinstatement of the Pacific Solution sought by the opposition Coalition, was not supported by the opposition or the Australian Greens on the basis that it would allow processing of asylum seekers in countries that were not signatory to the United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. An amendment to the bill, introduced by the Shadow Minister for Immigration & Citizenship Scott Morrison, to limit processing of asylum seekers to nations that had signed the convention was defeated. The Oakeshott bill was not passed by the Senate.

Retirement

Oakeshott retired from politics prior to the 2013 federal election, and did not contest his seat. It was subsequently won by the National Party candidate David Gillespie.

In June 2016, Oakeshott announced his candidacy for a return to federal politics at the federal election on 2 July. He ran as an independent in Cowper, which now includes Port Macquarie following a redistribution. Multiple seat-level opinion polls in the seat of Cowper found incumbent National Luke Hartsuyker and Oakeshott neck and neck on the two-party vote. While Hartsuyker retained the seat, Oakeshott reduced the National majority from a comfortably safe 13.1 percent to a marginal 4.5 percent.

In January 2019, Oakeshott announced he would stand again in Cowper at the 2019 Australian federal election. He was unsuccessful in his bid to win the seat.

In October 2021 Oakeshott was named as an advisor for climate fund, Climate 200.

In May 2012, Oakeshott revealed that he suffers from Graves' disease.

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Robert James Murray Oakeshott (born 14 December 1969) is an Australian politician. He was the independent Member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Lyne in New South Wales from 2008, when he won the 2008 Lyne by-election, until his retirement in 2013. Oakeshott described his views as economically conservative and socially progressive.

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Which section of the article to find the answers to the questions.
Question 5: How did we get here?

Question 6: What do they base their decisions on?

Question 7: Is this situation unprecedented?

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As Australia stares down the barrel of a hung Parliament, here's a look at what it all means. What is a hung Parliament? A hung Parliament results when no party has more than half the MPs in the House of Representatives, which means no party can pass laws without gaining support from other parties or independent members of the House.