Brian Harradine was never an ALP senator. He was elected in 1975 as an independent Tasmanian senator and served in the senate as an independent voice for thirty years.

I wonder Malcolm if that job overseas is still open? I'd rather have in your words Krusty the Clown looking after SA interests in the upper house then some party hack not allowed to have their own opinion.

The construction of the Senate will be interesting what with Hanson, this X fellow and the Greens.

I'm not adverse to a bit of poltical theatre and we've seen some whacko senators come out of SA - Coulter and Lees being two - although Qlds has had its share.

Is the Adelaide electronic media that bad? Is it a one horse newspaper town? I too have my reservations about voting blindly for parties but one has to be circumspect about voting for Independents too. I had a look on Mr Xenophon's website and it looked childish. Seems like he's simply against things. Beware the shadow reactionary.

NickX is very astute, he only plays and works for the easy issues. In other words goes for the basic common denominator...Emotion.
Single issues that provide for his personal media persona needs.
He came in on the anti-pokie label, yet pokies are sill alive and well, in abundance.
Sorry NickX but 4 out 10 for achievement. Respect your Ego, though not the results of your Ego!

When the constitution was decided I imagine the intent was to have a Senate that protected the rights of each State against exploitation by the federation.

In recent times, given slender balances of power in the Senate, I think some individuals have been able to exploit the Commonwealth. I think of Brian Harradine's power in being able to press his personal social morality and Tasmanian self interests - in my view to the detriment of the Commonwealth.

So, in my opinion in these days we do not want independent senators who push personal moralities or parochial state issues. If we elect an independent it ought be someone who is statesperson at the level of the nation. A lot to ask for given the nature of our political system. Far better to have a Senate balance of power by a party that looks at things from an Australia-wide perspective.

Good comment Fencepost. I need to brush up a bit on SA politics but surely, if as this article suggests, no one is going to vote for a guy just because he's against pokies.

From my experience, many hotel and club owners have had to sell their pokie licences back to their respective state governments to cash up and build outdoor smoking areas.

I understand the push for Independents but isn't it better to have either the Greens or the Democrats or the Green Democrats making decisions for the broad base of electors?

My worry about these last minute tilts at the Senate is that we'll elect single issue or duo issue candidates purely on popularism. My second concern is that there's nothing more useless than an Independent Senator in a Senate that isn't hung.

This is the most erudite assessment of Nick Xenophon I have yet seen.
I base this view on an accidental meeting at a outdoor cafe in North Adelaide. I was walking past and a friend called me over. Sitting with him was one Nick Xenophon. I was invited to join them.

I'm normally a fairly gregarious person, but there was no way I could participate in conversation with these two. Neither finished a thought, an idea, a viewpoint or a sentence in the conversation that followed. It was all about Nick and politics. Admittedly, the "conversation" was interrupted by endless mobile calls -- all to Nick.

Nevertheless, I came away pleased I had not voted for him, and firm in my intention not to do so in the future. There appears to me to be no coherent social, political and/or economic system of beliefs within whatever ideology he holds. I suspect that may vary from day to day. He is a man for all seasons, and a man for no season at all. To me, he has as much substance as a snow-flake. And people WILL tire, in the end, of all the media stunts.

Willow

Reliable sources say Mr Xenophon - he in trouble. Big trouble by taking on AMWU over alleged mispresentation according to ABC radio and now his partner is calling him an anti-politician. The problem with spin is that when the wheels fall off, the come off fast.

Never a truer word said..."He's not going to do anything about it either. He's just going to articulate back to an angry public what they feel - not unlike a therapist."

I don't need someone insulting my intelligence. Why has he done nothing about reforming the worker's compensation system? With his background, over the last 10 years, he could have dealt WorkCover a body-blow from which it would never have recovered. But he will chair injured worker group meetings and pay them platitudes. WAKE UP SOUTH AUSTRALIA