In early April this year, sitting member Dr Dennis Jensen failed to win Liberal Party preselection for his Western Australian seat of Tangney. A month later, he announced that he would contest the seat in the 2016 election as an Independent. In support of his chances of winning the seat, Dr Jensen cited the examples of West Australians Paul Filing and Allan Rocher who both did so after losing preselection and standing as Independents at the 1996 federal election.
Over the last 50 years there have been 17 MPs from major parties who contested their seats as Independents after leaving their parties. Only five of these (Sam Benson, Graeme Campbell, Allan Rocher, Paul Filing and Bob Katter) successfully regained their seats as Independents at the election following their departure from their parties. Three (Campbell, Rocher and Filing) then lost their seats at their second election as Independents. Benson retired before his second election as an Independent, and Katter went on to win three more elections as an Independent and then a fifth election (2013) as the leader of Katter’s Australian Party.
The table below lists the electoral outcomes for members of the House of Representatives who left major parties and then stood as Independents:
After having failed to win preselection for their party; or
After having been disendorsed by their party; or
After having been expelled from their party; or
After having resigned from their party.
MP
Electorate
State
Date of election(s) as party candidate
Party/IND
Electoral Outcome as an Independent
Bate, Jeff
Macarthur
Vic
10.12.49
LIB; lost preselection and became IND from Oct 1972
Def 2.12.72
Benson, Sam
Batman
1.9.62
ALP; expelled and became IND from Aug 1966
Won 26.11.66
Buchanan, Alexander
McMillan
10.12.55
LIB; lost preselection and became IND from Nov 1972
Campbell, Graeme
Kalgoorlie
WA
18.10.80
ALP; disendorsed and became IND from Nov 1995
Won 2.3.96
Def 3.10.98
Filing, Paul
Moore
24.3.90
LIB; lost preselection and became IND from Jun 1995
Johnson, Michael
Ryan
Qld
10.11.01
LIB; expelled and became IND from May 2010
Def 21.8.10
Katter, Bob
Kennedy
13.3.93
7.9.13
NPA; resigned and became IND from Jul 2001; KAP from Sep 2011
Won 10.11.01
Won 9.10.04
Won 24.11.07
Won 21.8.10
King, Peter
Wentworth
NSW
LIB; lost preselection and became IND from Sep 2004
Def 9.10.04
O’Connor, Gavan
Corio
ALP; lost preselection and became IND from Oct 2007
Def 24.11.07
Rocher, Allan
Curtin
21.2.81
LIB; lost preselection and became IND from Aug 1995
Slipper, Peter
Fisher
1.12.84
NPA (Def 11.7.87)
LIB; resigned and become IND from Nov 2011
Def 7.9.13
Smith, Anthony
Dickson
2.3.96
LIB; lost preselection and became IND from May 1998
St John, Edward
Warringah
26.11.66
LIB; resigned and became IND from Apr 1969
Def 25.10.69
Theophanous, Andrew
Burke
Calwell
ALP; resigned and became IND from Apr 2000
Def 10.11.01
Thomson, Craig
Dobell
24.11.07
ALP; resigned and became IND from Apr 2012
Wright, Keith
Capricornia
ALP; disendorsed and became IND from Feb 1993
Def 13.3.93
Zammit, Paul
Lowe
LIB; resigned and became IND from Feb 1998
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