Author
- Michelle Grattan
Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra
In the new parliament the government is expected to need only the Greens to pass the legislation opposed by the Coalition. Counting is not finished but on present indications it won't require any other Senate crossbenchers.
Given Labor's enhanced position it makes much harder an independent's job of holding the Labor government to account and pursuing their own agenda.
One independent who had considerable success pursuing his issues in the last parliament is ACT Senator David Pocock. Pocock saw a massive 18-point swing towards him at the election, easily finishing first, above Labor's Katy Gallagher.
Pocock now faces the reality that, despite an increase in his vote share, his actual negotiating power is weakened.
Pocock joins us today to talk about the new Senate situation, his aspirations for the next three years and the election generally.
On his stunning result from the ACT,
It was a really humbling result to see so much support. At the last election, I said to Canberrans that I wanted to be accessible and accountable to them and then stand on my record and I really tried to do that. So I think it's probably a combination of things. One, people wanting someone who's actually going to stand up for the ACT.
Couple that with a campaign where Peter Dutton and the Coalition made it just so hard for Canberra Liberals. You had a situation where the ACT Senate candidate for the Libs, Jacob Vadakkedathu, was pushing back on public service cuts, was saying how desperately the national capital needs a convention centre and needs it to be funded at least partially by the feds.
On the results more broadly, while Labor saw a massive positive result, Pocock asserts that voters don't want the status quo.
It's clearly a big victory for the Labor Party, but I don't think this is a vote for the status quo. We saw independents across the country making seats marginal, potentially winning seats or holding on to their seats. The swing towards independents was about the same as the swing towards the Labor party.
I think the task of this next parliament is to really crack on with dealing with the big challenges we face in a really constructive way. I don't think people just want more of the same.
Asked what 2035 climate change target he would like to see, Pocock stresses now is not the time to be cautious,
I think we've got to be really ambitious. From what I've heard from experts, we need to be looking at [a] 75 to 85, 90% [2035 emissions reductions target]. This is a time to go really hard on this, and we'll hear the Labor Party, we'll hear the Coalition say that, well we're a small jurisdiction, what we do is important but it's not the big game, we've got to support our partners overseas. We are one of the biggest fossil fuel exporters in the world, and we're one of the highest per capita emitters. So what we do actually really matters.
I think people want to see that sort of leadership. We're being, I think, essentially conned now that places like Japan need our gas for their energy security - when Japan is now exporting more gas than we send to them.
Pocock highlights that the conduct from both sides during this campaign is why truth in political advertising laws are needed,
When it comes to something like electoral reform, we saw [Labor] do a deal with the Coalition under the guise of we need the major parties to agree on this and get it through parliament. Then when it comes to truth in political advertising laws, Which they've committed to doing, they introduced a bill and then they just shelved it because I think it was actually inconvenient for them - because we saw them during this election use some pretty questionable tactics. Both the major parties are doing this, and I think more and more Australians expect better, want better.
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
