Background

Political party defections have been an ongoing issue within the Australian Parliament. Since the beginning of the current Parliament there have been 7 party defections. This number of party defections is greater than either of the previous two Parliaments.

There is currently no federal legislation or electoral requirement in Australia that specifically addresses defections or imposes sanctions. In an unusual move at the state level, the Tasmanian Liberal Party has proposed a ‘stability clause’ requiring defecting members to forfeit their seat but this has been criticised by legal experts.

Impact of defections on numbers

Defections can have a major impact on both the parties involved and the operation of the Parliament. The change in numbers of the crossbenches may affect the Government’s legislative program and chamber business. Not unusually in the Senate, the Government is in minority (25 senators) requiring 14 votes to pass legislation and business motions. Until Senator Payman’s defection, the Government required the Coalition’s vote or the Greens plus 2, and it now requires the Coalition or the Greens plus 3 votes.

The Liberal Party/Nationals Coalition overall has lost four seats to defection (two in each Chamber) in the current Parliament while the ALP, the Australian Greens and the Jacqui Lambie Network have each lost one member.

Since the 2022 election, the Coalition numbers in the House of Representatives have reduced from 58 to 55: two a result of defections (and the other due to defeat by the ALP at the Aston by-election). The crossbench in the House has increased from 16 to 18.

In the Senate, the already large crossbench has increased from 18 to 21, with the number of Independents or new micro parties (People First and Australia’s Voice) rising from 1 to 6.  The Government therefore lost a member in the Senate and will have to secure an extra vote from the crossbench on contentious legislation.

Reasons for defections

The defections in the current federal parliament have occurred for a variety of reasons.

Two defections have resulted from the members losing preselection by their parties for the next election.

In November 2023 Russell Broadbent (Monash, Vic) a long-term Liberal member lost party preselection, and quit the party to sit as an Independent. Following the loss of preselection in July 2024, Senator Gerard Rennick (Qld) resigned from the Liberal National Party of Queensland to sit as an Independent. Subsequently he has set up his own political party, People First.

Three defections resulted from policy differences with their respective parties.

Andrew Gee (Calare, NSW) resigned from the NSW Nationals in December 2022 over the party’s decision to oppose the Indigenous Voice to Parliament: he sits as an Independent in the House of Representatives.

On 6 February 2023 Senator Lidia Thorpe (Vic) resigned from the Australian Greens over differences with the party’s position on the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament: she sits as an Independent.

On 13 August 2024 Senator Fatima Payman (WA) informed the Senate she had resigned from the ALP as a result of the party’s position on the Israeli-Gaza conflict. Senator Payman crossed the floor to support a Greens motion relating to the Middle East. In October 2024 Senator Payman launched a new party, Australia’s Voice.

Two other defections were largely due to personal issues.

Senator David Van (Vic) was expelled from the Coalition party room in June 2023, following allegations of sexual harassment. Senator Van resigned from the Liberal Party three days after the initial allegations to sit as an Independent.

Senator Tammy Tyrrell (Tas) resigned from the Jacqui Lambie Network in March 2024, stating that ‘It’s become clear to me that I no longer have the confidence of the Jacqui Lambie Network to be able to represent it in the Senate’. Senator Tyrell sits as an Independent.

Following a defection there are normally calls for a parliamentarian who defects from the political party that endorsed them at the time of their election to vacate the seat (as discussed in this previous Parliamentary Library FlagPost). However, Professor Anne Twomey has suggested that measures to punish defections (such as anti-defection laws) are usually seen as moving too far towards stability and away from accountability and could raise constitutional issues.