Independents | AustralianPolitics.com

Dr Helen Haines (Ind-Indi) – Maiden Speech

August 1, 2019

This is the maiden speech to the House of Representatives by Dr Helen Haines, the independent member for Indi, Victoria.

Haines won Indi at the May 18, 2019 elections. Replacing Cathy McGowan, she became the first independent to succeed another independent.

Listen to Haines (27m):

Watch Haines (28m):

Hansard transcript of maiden speech by Dr Helen Haines, Independent member for Indi.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the honourable member for Indi, I remind the House that this is the honourable member’s first speech and I ask the House to extend to her the usual courtesies.

Dr HAINES (Indi) (12:04): Mr Speaker, congratulations to you on your appointment as Speaker and thank you for your warm welcome to me in this place.

Today as I rise in this House to give my first speech, I acknowledge the Ngunawal and Ngambri peoples, who are the traditional custodians of the Canberra area, and pay respect to the elders, past and present, of all Australia’s Indigenous peoples. I especially acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands across my large electorate of Indi—lands of the Wavereoo, Dhudhuroa, Bpangerang and Taungurung peoples. I honour the resilience, wisdom, dignity, scientific knowledge, the stories and art of the world’s longest surviving culture.

Zali Steggall (Ind-Warringah) – Maiden Speech

July 24, 2019

This is the maiden speech to the House of Representatives by the independent member for Warringah, Zali Steggall.

Listen to Steggall (25m):

Watch Steggall (26m):

Hansard transcript of maiden speech by Zali Steggall, independent member for Warringah.

Ms STEGGALL (Warringah) (10:57): I would like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people whose land we meet on today, the elders past, present and emerging. May we work together to promote harmony and learning, and let us safeguard this land together for generations to come. I would also like to acknowledge the Gayemagal, the Gamaragal and the Borogegal, the First People of Warringah.

Julia Banks (Lib-Chisholm) Turns Independent

November 27, 2018

The member for the Victorian electorate of Chisholm, Julia Banks, has announced that she is resigning from the Liberal Party to sit as an independent in the House of Representatives, plunging the Morrison government further into minority status.

Banks had previously announced that she would not contest Chisholm again as a Liberal. She has suggested she might run in Chisholm, or elsewhere, as an independent.

Banks won Chisholm at the 2016 federal election. It was the only seat the Liberal Party captured from the Labor Party. The ALP’s Anna Burke had held the seat since 1998.

A redistribution means the redrawn Chisholm will be based around the suburbs of Box Hill, Blackburn, Mount Waverley and Glen Waverley. It has a notional Liberal majority of 3.4%. Last Saturday’s Victorian state election saw the seats of Box Hill and Mount Waverley lost by the Liberal Party to the ALP with swings of 7.5% and 6.0% respectively. The Blackburn-based electorate of Forest Hill, whilst retained by the Liberal Party, registered a 3.0% swing to the ALP.

Bank’s announcement in the House came at the beginning of the day’s proceedings. It coincided with a press conference by Prime Minister Scott Morrison. The coalition government now holds just 74 of the 150 seats in the House, having already lost former PM Malcolm Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth to Dr Kerryn Phelps, also an independent. There are now seven crossbenchers in the House. The ALP has 69 seats.

Listen to Banks’ statement (5m)
Watch Bank’s statement (5m)

Hansard transcript of statement by Julia Banks, former Liberal member for Chisholm.

Ms BANKS (Chisholm) (12:01): Mr Speaker, on indulgence, may I make a personal statement?

The SPEAKER: Yes, the member for Chisholm may proceed.

Ms BANKS: Thank you, Mr Speaker. Following the leadership coup in August, I announced my decision that I will not recontest the seat of Chisholm at the next election as a member of the Liberal Party. I’ve always put the people before the party. After being a Labor held seat for 18 years, the people of Chisholm elected me as I promised them that I would be their representative under the leadership of the former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former deputy leader and foreign minister Julie Bishop—both visionary, inspiring leaders of sensible, centrist, liberal values with integrity and intellect, and with significant support from my local community, and across Australia, as leaders of our nation.

Dr Kerryn Phelps (Ind-Wentworth) – Maiden Speech

November 26, 2018

Dr Kerryn Phelps has given her first speech to the House of Representatives, after being sworn in this morning.

Phelps

Dr Phelps, 60, is the independent member for Wentworth. She replaces the former prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who resigned on August 31 after he was overthrown by the Liberal Party. Phelps won the October 20 by-election, securing a two-candidate vote of 51.22%, off a primary vote of 29.19%. The Liberal Party primary vote declined by 19.18% to 43.08%. The two-party-preferred vote was 60.75% to the Liberals and 39.25% to the ALP, a swing of 7.0%.

Phelps is the first woman to represent Wentworth since Federation in 1901. For its entire history, the seat had been represented by the non-Labor parties in their various incarnations.

The first woman to be elected President of the Australian Medical Association, Phelps has operated a medical practice in the Wentworth electorate for the last twenty years. Elected to the Sydney City Council, on the Clover Moore ticket, in 2017, she served for a year as Deputy Lord Mayor.

Phelps has been a prominent campaigner for the cause of same-sex marriage and gender equality. She supported the Yes case in the 2017 plebiscite.

Listen to Phelps’ speech (27m)
Watch Phelps’ speech (30m)
Watch Phelps’ swearing-in (6m)

Hansard transcript of the first speech by Dr Kerryn Phelps, independent member for Wentworth.

Mr CHESTER (Gippsland—Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Minister for Defence Personnel, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Centenary of ANZAC and Deputy Leader of the House) (15:12): by leave—I move:

That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Wentworth making a statement immediately and that the Member speak without limitation of time.

Question agreed to.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the honourable member for Wentworth, I remind the House that this is the honourable member’s first speech. I ask the House to extend to her the usual courtesies.

Sen. Tim Storer (Ind-SA) – Maiden Speech

May 9, 2018

Senator Tim Storer has delivered his maiden speech to the Senate.

Storer

Storer has filled the vacancy created by the resignation of South Australian Senator Skye Kakoschke-Moore, a Nick Xenophon Team member. Kakoschke-Moore was ruled ineligible by the High Court, due to her dual citizenship. A special recount of ballot papers elected Storer in her place. Storer had already left the party and has chosen to sit as an independent. He was declared elected on February 16, 2018.

Storer, 48, is a former member of the ALP. He joined the Nick Xenophon Team in 2013 and was number four on the party’s South Australian Senate ticket at the 2016 election. The ticket elected three senators. Following Senator Xenophon’s resignation in 2017, Rex Patrick was chosen to fill the casual vacancy. Storer resigned from the party in protest.

Storer has worked in China, Hong Kong and Vietnam. He ran a business assisting businesses with Asian trading and investment interests.

Listen to Storer’s speech (19m)
Watch Storer’s speech (21m)

Hansard transcript of maiden speech by Senator Tim Storer.

Senator STORER (South Australia) (17:04): I would like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunawal people as the traditional owners of the land upon which I stand and the Kaurna people as the traditional owners of the land on which my office in Adelaide sits, and I pay my respect to their elders, past and present. I also acknowledge all First Nations people in the chamber and gallery today. I wish to thank my family, especially Belinda, our sons Raphael and Ilan; Belinda’s parents; and my friends for their support. Thank you to those who have travelled here today. I would like to acknowledge the kind and courteous reception I’ve had since joining the Senate, from its wonderful staff, from the President and fellow senators and from Senators Cormann and Wong, who kindly escorted me into this chamber.

Posts published in “Independents”

Dr Helen Haines (Ind-Indi) – Maiden Speech

Zali Steggall (Ind-Warringah) – Maiden Speech

Julia Banks (Lib-Chisholm) Turns Independent

Dr Kerryn Phelps (Ind-Wentworth) – Maiden Speech

Sen. Tim Storer (Ind-SA) – Maiden Speech