Jacqui Lambie has called for an end to Australia’s major political parties while launching a scathing critique of Labor’s unwillingness to dump the controversial stage three tax cuts.
The independent senator for Tasmania told an audience at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney on Saturday the federal government’s failure to increase jobseeker payments above the poverty line while waving through the tax cuts was emblematic of the “broken” political system.
The tax cuts are estimated to cost taxpayers $243bn over the next 10 years.
“All the rich people out there, about five or 10% of them in the next few years, are going to get a nice big tax cut, because apparently they need that to live within their means,” she said.
“We’ve got a leader of the Labor party that’s progressive … [gets] elected and guess what, how’s jobseeker going then?
“We’ve got people living below the poverty line.”
Lambie said the dominance of major parties was “choking and killing the country”, while the sweeping gains of independent candidates in the May federal election was the “breakthrough” Australia needed.
“They’ve [mainstream parties] got no life experience because they’ve been kissed on their arse the whole life … no wonder this country has a problem,” she said.
“Thank God for the teals, this is the breakthrough our country’s been waiting for. It will take them to stand up now and lead by example for us to get more independents and micros in the future.
“A coalition of small parties and independents with life experience could do it a lot better. We’d have to compromise.”
Lambie said Liberal and Labor party factions were organised around “geography and philosophy” and had too much power to make decisions and select candidates, leading to “party hacks and militants” leading the country.
“It’s not about merit,” she said. “It’s not about ability, or charisma or intelligence. It’s about numbers. It’s a numbers game. Parties are not run on merit, they’re run on loyalty.
“Over the last 30 years, we’ve only had six prime ministers from outside of Sydney … the last election was fought by two blokes from Sydney. How about that. Prime ministers come from big cities, because prime ministers come from big parties … because that’s the only thing we’ve got on offer.”
Lambie told the audience the job of backbenchers and MPs in major parties was to “hold the line” and back in policies even if they didn’t align with their personal beliefs, a process that was “lazy and dysfunctional”.
She lamented current foreign affairs minister Penny Wong’s apparent necessity to remain quiet on the same-sex marriage debate during the prime ministership of Julia Gillard.
“From knowing her, it must have actually broken her heart,” she said of Wong, who she also described as a “bloody effective MP”. “You don’t have a choice … disunity is political death for yourself.
“That’s why the party [Labor] has moved so slowly … and if they moved any slower I’d be bloody comatose. I’ve never seen a business model run like it runs in Canberra.
“What an absolute stupid system that our political system has ended up in.”
Lambie said politicians weren’t on the side of the public and “aren’t your mates”, while the loss of former Labor senator Kristina Keneally and former treasurer Josh Frydenberg in the federal election proved safe seats could be made marginal with the right independent candidate.
“If you want a politician as a mate, go and buy a dog,” she said. “Make them work for it, make their seats unsafe. If you’re in a safe seat, you’re getting nothing delivered, that’s how it works.
“If you treat them like furniture, you’ll never lose them, even if they don’t work anymore. You’re their boss.”
Wong’s office was contacted for comment.
