Senator Brian Harradine has announced that he will not recontest his seat at this year’s election and will leave politics when his term expires on June 30 next year.
Harradine, a controversial figure expelled by the ALP in 1975, has been an independent senator from Tasmania since winning a seat at the 1975, following the dismissal of the Whitlam government.
Statement from Senator Brian Harradine.
Senator Harradine will not recontest seat
I will not be recontesting my Tasmanian Senate seat at the next election. My term is due to end on 30 June 2005. I will leave the Senate as the longest serving senator in the current Parliament and the longest serving independent senator since Federation.