Independents Still Vital Despite Labor’s Dominance in Parliament, Pocock Says

With a massive swing toward him and having gained 42 percent of the primary vote, independent David Pocock is one of the first declared elected to the Senate.

Senator David Pocock speaks during question time at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on July 28, 2022. Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Having stormed to re-election victory in the Senate with 42 percent of the primary vote—a double of his previous vote, representing a 20.85 percent swing towards him—David Pocock says he’s keen to get back to work.

“It’s really fascinating time for our democracy, where we have independents across the country that are saying to their community, ‘I share your frustration; the major parties aren’t actually standing up to vested interests. They’re not actually dealing with root causes and challenges we’re facing,’” he told ABC Radio National.

Pocock, along with Labor’s Katy Gallagher, are one of only two senators allocated to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).

The former rugby player is not concerned about a Labor majority (85 seats) in the House of Representatives, which could mean the government can ignore independent crossbenchers.

Instead, he feels they will be more opportunity to pursue “positive and constructive” politics.

“A vote for Labor wasn’t a vote for the status quo,” he said.

“People do want change. They want a more constructive parliament, and they want a parliament actually starting to deal with the root causes of the big challenges we’re facing,” which he listed as including the cost of living, housing, health, climate and the environment, and creating a more egalitarian society.

“We treat housing as an investment in Australia, not as a human right, something that needs to be accessible and affordable for communities to be able to flourish,” he says.

Vote Sends ‘Clear Message’

A Labor majority is going to mean a different way of working, he admits, but “I think you’re going to continue to see independents pushing hard. [And] let’s not forget that the major parties team up and vote together a fair bit in the Senate to stop things like lobbying reform, to stop us getting more for the gas that we seem pretty happy to give away as a country.”

Pocock says he’s hopeful that the increasing number of independents in parliament will “change the politics of our country.”

“They’re willing to push hard to actually take on these hard issues, and I hope that that will actually force the major parties to go back and reflect on who they’re in there to serve. Why don’t they want more transparency when it comes to lobbying and ministerial diaries?

“These seem like pretty basic entry requirements as an elected representative, and yet, in the Senate, over the last three years, time and time again, we’ve seen them team up to vote against the entire crossbench.”

Liberals Lost ACT Due To ‘Canberra Bashing’

He said the centre-right Liberal Party made it “very hard for themselves” to win a seat in the Territory due to “Canberra bashing,” promising to cut 41,000 personnel from the public service and remove federal funding from local projects, which he said local Liberal candidate supported.

A former professional rugby player—he played for the Wallabies and was vice captain of the Brumbies in Super Rugby—Pocock is no stranger to setting political records.

His election in 2022, defeating Liberal incumbent Zed Seselja, ended the two major parties’ duopoly which had been in place since the ACT was granted Senate representation in 1975.

Another independent likely to represent the Territory is first-time candidate Jessie Price, who’s poised for a possible upset for Labor in the seat of Bean, thought to be safe with a margin of 12.9 percent.