Jacqui Lambie Network

Last updated

Jacqui Lambie Network
AbbreviationJLN
Leader Jacqui Lambie
Founded14 May 2015;8 years ago (2015-05-14)
Split from Palmer United Party
HeadquartersShop 4, 22 Mount Street, Burnie, Tasmania
Ideology
Political position Big tent [3]
Colours  Gold
House of Representatives
0 / 151
Senate
1 / 76
House of Assembly
3 / 35
Legislative Council
0 / 15
Circular Head Council
1 / 9
Website
lambienetwork.com.au

The Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) is a political party in Australia, formed in May 2015. Bearing the name of its founder, Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, it has served as the political vehicle for the former independent.

Contents

The JLN was formed to allow Lambie to re-contest her Senate seat at the 2016 federal election, after she resigned from the Palmer United Party in November 2014. It gained 8.3% of the Senate popular vote in Tasmania in 2016, slightly increasing its vote share to 8.9% at the 2019 election. The JLN also fielded candidates for the 2018 Tasmanian state election. In the 2022 federal election, the party was successful in electing a second party member Tammy Tyrrell into the Senate, increasing its parliamentary composition to two senators for the first time. [4] In the 2024 Tasmanian state election, the JLN won seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the first time. [5] [6]

The party's political positions reflect Lambie's own stances, generally presenting a big tent orientation. [7] The JLN has maintained populist support for working class "battlers", especially welfare recipients. [8] [9] The party also maintains strong support for members of the armed services, owing to Lambie's own experience with the ADF. The JLN has a prioritised regional focus on Tasmania, where the party draws virtually all of its support from. Early in her political career, Lambie promoted firm nationalist sentiments, first in opposition to Sharia law, [10] and more recently about "Chinese foreign interference". [11] In an interview with ABC News in 2018, Lambie distanced herself from her previous views on Sharia law, stating she did not want to "cause division", and was influenced by "a previous advisor that was really driving that in". [12]

On 28 March 2024, Tammy Tyrrell announced she would resign from the Jacqui Lambie Network to sit as an independent, saying that Lambie was "not happy" with the way she was representing the party. [13]

History

In the 2024 Tasmanian state election, the JLN won seats in the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the first time. [5] Three candidates were elected. [14] The party contested all seats expect for Clark.

Policies

While announcing the formation of the party, Lambie revealed the party's 12 "core beliefs", including establishing a national apprentice, trade and traineeship system incorporating both the Australian Defence Force and TAFEs, dedicated Indigenous seats in parliament, and supporting the introduction of a carbon tax. [15]

Royal commission into veteran suicide

In response to a Change.org petition organised by Julie-Ann Finney, whose son David Finney killed himself after a crippling battle with post-traumatic stress injury, [16] Lambie has called for a royal commission into veteran suicide. [17]

The Morrison Government announced their intention to appoint a National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention to inquire into the deaths by suicide of serving and former ADF members. [18]

Lambie criticised the Government's plan in a dissenting report, noting that "The families of veterans who have taken their own lives support a Royal Commission. The institutions who are being blamed for those suicides support a National Commissioner." [19]

On 8 July 2021, a Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide in Australia was established. [20]

Political donations

Lambie introduced a bill to the Australian Senate in February 2020 that proposes to tighten political donations laws. [21] The bill seeks to amend current laws that permit political donations under $14,300 to not be disclosed. [22] Lambie has proposed lowering this threshold to $2,500.

The bill also proposes to introduce electoral expenditure accounts for organisations that run political campaigns. This will compel parties and others to disclose the source of any money they spend on their electoral campaigns. [23]

Australian manufacturing

In early 2020, Lambie started a campaign [24] to support Australian manufacturing with concerns about Australia's reliance on foreign imported products; she believes these concerns are a threat to Australia's economic sovereignty; magnified with the advent of COVID-19. [25]

Foreign interference

Lambie has said on her website "It’s about time that the people in Parliament woke up to China’s attempts to infiltrate our economy and our democracy." [26] Her concerns are echoed by Duncan Lewis, formerly the Director-General of Security at ASIO. [27]

Taxation

Upon its application to register as a political party in 2015, it was described that the party would "favour the introduction of a financial transactions tax". [28]

Elected representatives

Current

Federal

State

Former

Electoral history

At the 2016 federal election, the Jacqui Lambie Network fielded 10 candidates for the Senate (three each in Tasmania and New South Wales, and two each in Queensland and Victoria) but no candidates for seats in the House of Representatives. [29]

Federal Parliament

Senate
Election year# of
overall votes
 % of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
# of
overall seats
+/–Status
2016 69,0740.50 (#17)
1 / 76
1 / 76
Increase2.svg 1 Crossbench
2019 31,3830.21 (#28)
1 / 40
1 / 76
Steady2.svgCrossbench
2022 23,2730.27 (#28)
1 / 40
2 / 76
Increase2.svg 1Crossbench

Tasmanian Parliament

House of Assembly
Election year# of
overall votes
 % of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
# of
overall seats
+/–Status
2018 10,5793.16 (#4)
0 / 25
0 / 25
Steady2.svgExtra-parliamentary
2021 Did not contest
2024 21,3786.75 (#4)
3 / 35
3 / 35
Increase2.svg 3Crossbench
(With Confidence and supply)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Senate</span> Upper house of the Parliament of Australia

The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a total of 76 senators: 12 are elected from each of the six Australian states regardless of population and 2 from each of the two self-governing internal Australian territories. Senators are popularly elected under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Abetz</span> Australian politician (born 1958)

Eric Abetz is an Australian politician. He was a Senator for Tasmania from 1994 to 2022, representing the Liberal Party, and since March 2024 has been a member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly for the Franklin electorate.

Robert Desmond Messenger is an Australian politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland representing the Electoral district of Burnett. Originally a member of the Queensland branch of the Nationals, he became a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland when that party was formed from the union of the Queensland branches of the National Party and the Liberal Party in 2008. He resigned from the Liberal Nationals in 2010 and became an Independent. He lost his seat to the LNP at the 2012 election. Since then he has been involved in the Palmer United Party and was an adviser to Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie.

The Tasmania First Party is a minor Australian political party which operates exclusively in the state of Tasmania. The party was begun by members of the Tasmanian Firearms Owners Association in response to the Howard government's 1996 National Firearms Agreement, which the party called a "unilateral imposition of unnecessarily restrictive firearm legislation, following the unique tragedy of Martin Bryant's Port Arthur protest[sic]."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Australia Party (2013)</span> Political party in Australia

The United Australia Party (UAP), formerly known as Clive Palmer's United Australia Party and the Palmer United Party (PUP), is an Australian political party formed by mining magnate Clive Palmer in April 2013. The party was deregistered by the Australian Electoral Commission in 2017, revived and re-registered in 2018, and voluntarily deregistered in 2022. The party fielded candidates in all 150 House of Representatives seats at the 2013 federal election. Palmer, the party's leader, was elected to the Division of Fairfax and it reached a peak of three senators following the rerun of the Western Australian senate election in 2014. When the party was revived under its original name in 2018, it was represented by ex-One Nation senator Brian Burston in the federal parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqui Lambie</span> Australian politician (born 1971)

Jacquiline Louise Lambie is an Australian politician who is the leader and founder of the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN). She is a Senator for Tasmania since 2019, and was previously a Senator from 2014 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Tasmanian state election</span>

The 2018 Tasmanian state election was held on 3 March 2018 to elect all 25 members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly.

An independent politician is a person who has served in a political office while not affiliated to any political party. Many of these have either resigned or been expelled from membership in political parties, and some have gone on to form their own political parties over time. In some cases members of parliament sit as an Independent while still holding party leadership. This can be for a multitude of reasons including Expulsion from party room, deregistration of party and suspension of membership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Defence Veterans Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Australian Defence Veterans Party was a minor political party which formed in Australia in 2015 to advocate for military veterans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Members of the Australian Senate, 2016–2019</span>

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate following the 2016 Australian federal election held on 2 July 2016. The election was held as a consequence of a double dissolution in which both houses of parliament were dissolved. Ordinarily, only half of the senators terms end at each election. In this case, all 76 senators were elected. At the first sitting following the election, half of the senators representing each of the six states of Australia were allocated six-year terms to end on 30 June 2022, with the remainder allocated three-year terms to end on 30 June 2019. The terms of senators from the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory end on the day of the next federal election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Australian Senate election</span> Australian federal election results

The 2016 Australian federal election in the Senate was part of a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It was the first double dissolution election since the 1987 election and the first under a new voting system for the Senate that replaced group voting tickets with optional preferential voting.

Steven Leigh Martin is an Australian politician who was a Senator for Tasmania from February 2018 to June 2019, when he lost his seat at the 2019 federal election. Martin was declared elected to the Senate on a recount when Jacqui Lambie was caught up in the parliamentary eligibility crisis. He took his seat as an independent, before joining the National Party in May 2018 as its first Tasmanian member since the 1920s. He was previously the mayor of the City of Devonport from 2011 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tasmanian National Party</span> Political party in Australia

The Tasmanian Nationals are a political party in the Australian state of Tasmania, aligned with the National Party of Australia. The party is not currently registered with the Tasmanian Electoral Commission, and is not separately registered with the Australian Electoral Commission, unlike the other state branches of the Nationals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Tasmanian state election</span> Election for the House of Assembly in the 51st Tasmanian Parliament

The 2024 Tasmanian state election was held on 23 March 2024 to elect all 35 members to the House of Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tammy Tyrrell</span> Australian politician (born 1970)

Tammy Tyrrell is an Australian politician. She ran in the 2022 federal election to represent Tasmania in the Senate, and was elected to fill the sixth vacancy. Her 6-year term started on 1 July 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Australian Senate election</span> Australian federal election results

The 2022 Australian federal election in the Senate was held on 21 May 2022 to elect 40 of the 76 senators in the Australian Senate, after a six-week campaign. Senators elected at this election took office on 1 July 2022, with the exception of the Senators elected from two territories whose terms commenced from election day. The elected senators sit alongside continuing senators elected in 2019 as part of the 47th Parliament of Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Members of the Australian Senate, 2022–2025</span>

This is a list of members of the Australian Senate following the 2022 Australian federal election held on 21 May 2022. Terms for newly elected senators representing the Australian states begin on 1 July 2022. Terms for senators in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory began on the day of the election, 21 May 2022.

The Local Network, formerly known as The Local Party of Australia, is an Australian political party. It was founded in 2021 and is largely active in the state of Tasmania, however it does have a presence in South Australia.

Following the results of the 2024 Tasmanian state election, which resulted in a hung parliament with the Liberal Party winning the most seats, the incumbent Liberal government, led by Premier Jeremy Rockliff, will negotiate with independents and the Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) to seek confidence and supply to form a minority government for the party's fourth consecutive term in office.

Craig Anthony Garland is an Australian politician and fisherman representing the Division of Braddon in the Tasmanian House of Assembly since the 2024 Tasmanian state election.

References

    • Greber, Jacob (25 March 2022). "Political survivor Jacqui Lambie stokes middle-of-the-road outrage". Australian Financial Review . Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 April 2022.
    • Moffitt, Benjamin (12 April 2022). "Populism and the federal election: what can we expect from Hanson, Palmer, Lambie and Katter?". The Conversation . Archived from the original on 2 May 2022.
    • Westcott, Ben (21 June 2022). "Australia's Left Narrowly Wins Balance of Power in New Senate". Bloomberg News . Bloomberg L.P. Archived from the original on 21 June 2022.
    • Bird, Isabel (11 January 2024). "Jacqui Lambie party a 'populist bubble' with a three seat chance" . The Examiner . Australian Community Media. Archived from the original on 11 January 2024.
  1. Henriques-Gomes, Luke (10 May 2019). "Australian election 2019: how to avoid voting for a terrible micro party in the Senate". Guardian Australia . Guardian Media Group. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019.
  2. Rundle, Guy (26 March 2024). "The Jacqui Lambie Experience triumphs with absolutely no policies". Crikey. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  3. Bovill, Monte (30 May 2022). "Who is Tasmania's likely new senator, Tammy Tyrrell?". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Rockliff claims victory in Tasmanian election, despite falling short of majority". ABC News. 23 March 2024. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  5. Rundle, Guy (26 March 2024). "The Jacqui Lambie Experience triumphs with absolutely no policies". Crikey. Retrieved 24 April 2024.
  6. Kenny, Mark (17 September 2019). "Jacqui Lambie mixes battler politics with populism to make her swing vote count". The Conversation.
  7. Visentin, Lisa (9 October 2020). "Jacqui Lambie is a thorn in the Coalition's side". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. McCulloch, Daniel; Livingston, Angus (9 September 2019). "Lambie sinks two coalition welfare plans". Canberra Times.
  9. "Lambie takes on Islamic youth leader over sharia law". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 13 February 2017.
  10. "There's a wrecking ball headed our way". Lambie Network.
  11. Has Jacqui Lambie backflipped on Sharia law and Islam? #OnePlusOne , retrieved 18 February 2021
  12. "Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell resigns from Jacqui Lambie Network, will sit on crossbench as independent". ABC News. 28 March 2024.
  13. Press, Australian Associated (6 April 2024). "Make-up of Tasmanian parliament finally settled as 'anti-politician' independent takes last seat". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 6 April 2024.
  14. "Jacqui Lambie Network: former Palmer United Party senator registers new political party". SMH.
  15. "Mother's battle for veteran son gains ground". The Advertiser. 5 May 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  16. "We have a bloody big problem here". Jacqui Lambie Network. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  17. "National Commissioner for Defence and Veteran Suicide Prevention". Department of the Attorney General.
  18. Commonwealth Parliament; Parliament House, Canberra. "Dissenting Report from Senator Jacqui Lambie". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 1 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. "Home page". Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. Australian Government. 2021.
  20. Commonwealth Parliament; Parliament House, Canberra. "Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Donation Reform and Other Measures) Bill 2020". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 1 February 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. "Disclosure threshold". Australian Electoral Commission. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  22. "Money buys power in our parliament". Jacqui Lambie Network. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  23. "Make Australia Make Again". Jacqui Lambie Network. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  24. Lambie, Jacqui (14 May 2020). "We must start manufacturing again: Lambie". The Examiner. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  25. "There's a wrecking ball headed our way". Jacqui Lambie Network. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  26. "Former ASIO boss reportedly fears China is working to take over Australia's political system". SBS News. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
  27. "Jacqui Lambie Network: Tasmanian senator registers new political party". ABC News. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  28. "Candidates for the 2016 federal election". Australian Electoral Commission. 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.