Two parties traditionally dominate Australian politics, but that does not mean they hold all the power. Support for Labor and the Liberals dropped to a record low at the last election, with almost 1 in 3 voters opting for minor parties or independents. These minor parties have plenty of influence from the cross bench over who lands in government and what they do there.
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00:00Two big parties dominate Australian politics, but then there's these ones, and then there's
00:06these guys.
00:07Independents.
00:08Support for the major parties dropped to a record low at the last election.
00:11Almost one in three voters didn't support them.
00:13Like their name suggests, an independent MP is separate from any party, with their own
00:16individual policies and views.
00:18But they can be broken down into a few different groups, so here's a quick guide to who's
00:21who.
00:22Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haynes and Bob Catter have been some of the longest serving independents
00:25in parliament who are on the current crossbench.
00:27The crossbench is where independents and minor parties sit by the way, so they're in between
00:30the two major parties.
00:31Andrew Wilkie is a former spy, and he advocates pretty heavily for privacy protections and
00:35against pokies in the gambling industry.
00:37Helen Haynes is a former nurse, she was also a midwife, and she's got a regional and rural
00:40focus.
00:41Bob Catter is one of the best known independents in the parliament because he's a bit of a
00:45character.
00:46Let there be a thousand blossoms bloom as far as I'm concerned, but I ain't spending
00:51any time on it.
00:53Technically he leads the Catter's Australia party, but he's actually the only one elected
00:56to federal parliament.
00:57His focus is on limiting monopolies like the supermarkets, nationalisation of essential
01:01services like gas and airports, and also giving everyone the right to own a gun.
01:04So he's not really a party man.
01:07There's actually a few other people in this camp, including Jackie Lambie, Rebecca Sharkey
01:11and Fatima Payment.
01:12And this is where things sort of start to get a bit complicated, because some independents
01:16do sometimes behave very similarly to a party.
01:19Which brings us to the Teals.
01:21This group of independents are informally labelled the Teals.
01:24Economically this group tend to lean a bit more conservative, socially they tend to lean
01:27a bit more to the left.
01:28Hence this Teal label, it's a mix of green and blue, the Liberals.
01:32But again, each one of them is slightly different.
01:35But they do almost always vote together, and they're all backed by a major fundraising
01:38group called Climate 200.
01:40It's run by the director of the Smart Energy Council, millionaire Simon Holmesacourt.
01:44The group also provides financial support to a number of MPs who aren't in the Teal
01:47grouping, but support strong action to counter global warming.
01:50One of them is Senator David Pocock.
01:52The former Wallabies captain won the ACT's second Senate seat off a Liberal in 2022,
01:56advocating for strong action on climate change and transparency in politics.
02:00Another independent who made it into federal parliament at the last election was in Western
02:03Sydney.
02:04Former ABC journalist and local Liberal candidate Dai Lee wasn't backed by Climate 200.
02:08She's the first Vietnamese-Australian refugee to win a seat in the parliament, and is particularly
02:13focused on cost of living relief and better services for her electorate.
02:16At the other end of the political spectrum from the Teals are One Nation and the United
02:19Australia Party.
02:21One Nation has two senators and the UAP has one.
02:23Both parties fall far to the right.
02:25One Nation wants to reduce Australia's refugee intake, reduce availability of unemployment
02:29payments and impose heavy restrictions on abortion.
02:32Members of the party have also been associated with spreading conspiracy theories, as have
02:35the UAP.
02:36Mining magnate Clive Palmer pumped $123 million dollars into his campaign at the last election,
02:42and won one Victorian Senate seat that's held by Ralph Babbitt.
02:46So you might know who you want to vote for, but what about how to actually vote?
02:50Check out the rest of Politics Explained for more info on how, when and where to do it.