Mr Speaker, in this year’s federal election, independents and minor parties received more votes than the Liberal National Coalition, achieving 34% of the primary vote.1  

And while Labor would have us focus on their 94 seat so-called “super-majority”, only about 35% of Australians gave Labor their first preference.2  

Mr Speaker, this is no anomaly. This is a very long trend in Australian politics. In 1975, minor parties and independents accounted for only 4% of the primary vote. 50 years later, the non-major party vote of 34% represents the highest recorded since the emergence of the two-party system. That’s a nearly 9-fold increase.  

This is the modern Australian political landscape – a third of votes for Labor, a third of votes for the Coalition, and a third of votes for the rest.  

Understandably, the major parties do not like this trend. Understandably, they would like the status quo to remain, where the two major parties are the only voices in Australian politics.  

This Bill is evidence of that.  

For good reason, the government is creating a Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence. The stated aim of the Bill is to inject greater parliamentary transparency, accountability and oversight of Defence.  

In fact, I was very interested to hear the Member for Fremantle speak on this Bill last night. He seems to share my view in relation to the Committee, noting “it is important that, with respect to matters of national security and the National Intelligence Community, ordinary parliamentarians who are not members of the executive can have some visibility of those matters.” 

These are worthy aims, and I am very much on board.  

Other Committees in this place have rules that not only allow but require crossbench members to be part of them.4 Membership of this proposed Committee has no such requirement. No requirement that a member of the crossbench be included. Members of Parliament, who the Australian people entrusted with a third of their vote – same as the Labor Party, same as the Coalition.  

This bill only provides for “government” or “non-government” members. In fact, the appointment provisions are identical to the appointment provisions for the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. This means, in practice, both the Intelligence and Security Committee and the proposed Defence Committee will never include members from the Australian Parliament’s crossbench.  

There is something wildly arrogant about this. That when it comes to security and intelligence matters, to the defence of our nation, only Labor, Liberal or National Party members are considered qualified to weigh in. That only major party members are to be trusted to oversee these vitally important matters.  

This is despite the depth of expertise on the crossbench in relation to these matters. Take the Member for Clark, for example. A lieutenant-colonel in the Australian army. Senior management roles with an American defence contractor. Service as an intelligence official with the Office of National Assessment and two-time winner of the Australian Intelligence Community Medallion. 

That membership of the Labor, Liberal or National Party makes you more qualified than this to serve on a Defence Committee is preposterous. 

The defence of our country, the security of our citizens, is a matter for the entire nation. Not just for those electorates who have a major party representative. My constituents, and the constituents of every one of the 13 members of the crossbench in this place, deserve to be represented.  

It is a profoundly undemocratic state of affairs. I fail to understand how it can be justified.  

The amendment that I am proposing to this Bill simply requires one crossbench member from the House, and one crossbench Senator, to be appointed to the Defence Committee.  

Simple. Fair. Democratic. Entirely reasonable.  

Because, to repeat: there is now a firmly established trend of Australians voting for non-major party candidates. At this year’s election, 34% of voting Australians – that’s 6,150,000 people in this country6 - put their trust in independents and minor parties.  

6,150,000 who wanted those candidates to represent them in Parliament. In all aspects of the business of this Parliament.  

Locking out their elected members to protect the major party duopoly does not pass the pub test. The duopoly ignores the reality of the Australian political landscape of the 21st century at its peril. 

I commend this amendment to the House.