What Have the Independents Actually Achieved?

NACC blueprint bill (McGowan, 2018)

NACC tabled as direct legislative pressure bill (Haines - built on McGowan blueprint, forced government hand)

National Housing and Homelessness Plan backed by 100+ orgs including Mission Australia and ACOSS (Pocock/Tink, 2024)

Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill (Scamps, 2025)

Ending Jobs for Mates Bill (Scamps, 2023)

Fair and Transparent Elections Bill - two bills protecting voters from political lies (Chaney, 2023/2024)

Clean Up Politics Act targeting politician-lobbyist revolving door (Ryan, 2023)

Truth in Political Advertising bills (Steggall, multiple terms)

Whistleblower Protection Bill (Wilkie, 2012)

Climate Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity Bill (Pocock, 2023)

Anti-doxxing legislation championed and delivered (Daniel)

Gambling advertising ban bill (crossbench)

Safer E-bikes Bill (Scamps, 2025)

Foreign political donations ban (Wilkie).

Robodebt - illegal scheme extracted $750M from vulnerable Australians, sustained through deliberate knowledge avoidance documented by Royal Commission

Stage 3 tax cuts in original form benefiting highest earners

HomeBuilder program (real but rorted)

AUKUS partnership

Free trade agreements with Japan, South Korea, China, Indonesia, UK

No federal integrity commission introduced across nine years in government.

Opposed renewable energy legislation consistently

Murray-Darling water laws repeatedly amended to favour corporate irrigators over communities and environment

Water buyback moratorium weakening basin protections

Opposed climate action at every turn

Coal advocacy bills (Canavan).

Anti-immigration motions

Anti-Net Zero motions

Coal advocacy motions.

No substantive legislation of national benefit passed across entire parliamentary history.

Climate Change Act 2022

NACC legislation (weaker than McGowan/Haines blueprint but a genuine democratic achievement)

National Housing Supply and Affordability Council

Help to Buy shared equity scheme

Vehicle efficiency standards

Superannuation on parental leave

HECS indexation reform

Closing the Loopholes legislation restoring worker rights

Aged Care Act

Fee-Free TAFE

Cheaper medicines - PBS co-payment cut

Childcare subsidy increases benefiting hundreds of thousands of families.

Various climate, housing, refugee, and social justice bills introduced across multiple terms

Meaningful advocacy and genuine policy contribution.

Legislative delivery undermined at times by refusal to support imperfect but beneficial reforms that would have helped the people they represent.

Climate Change Act amended - 43% set as floor not ceiling, passed 87 to 56 (Daniel, 2022)

Anti-doxxing law passed - personal information cannot be used as a weapon (Daniel)

Stage 3 tax cuts widened to benefit more Australians (crossbench pressure)

$3B HECS debt relief for 3 million Australians secured (Ryan - 260,000-signature campaign)

Safeguard mechanism strengthened - biggest polluters required to cut emissions

Independent appointments to National Reconstruction Fund board (Scamps)

$340M secured for Royal Hobart Hospital through confidence and supply (Wilkie, 2010)

SME protections in Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill (Tink - only crossbench seat to secure this amendment)

Code of Conduct binding all parliamentarians and staff (crossbench).

In opposition: successfully weakened NACC scope during negotiations

Opposed and delayed climate amendments

Voted against floor-not-ceiling amendment

Blocked gambling advertising reform. In government across nine years: no significant accountability or transparency amendments introduced or supported.

Secured water buyback moratorium weakening Murray-Darling Basin protections

Delayed and diluted renewable energy targets across multiple budget cycles

Extracted coal-friendly concessions as Coalition negotiating condition.

None of substance benefiting ordinary Australians documented across parliamentary history.

15% pay rise for aged care workers delivered

Childcare subsidy increases delivered real cost-of-living relief

Closing the Loopholes amendments restoring right to disconnect, casual conversion, and worker protections

PBS co-payment reduction

Fee-Free TAFE

Superannuation on parental leave - structural reform benefiting women's retirement savings.

Most significant climate and accountability improvements required crossbench pressure to maximise.

Some climate mechanism amendments and housing advocacy contributions of real value.

Pattern of blocking imperfect legislation has at times prevented amendments from delivering material benefit to people who needed them most.

Drafted gold standard NACC blueprint (McGowan, 2018)

Haines tabled the bill that forced government hand on NACC - then held the NACC itself to account

Haines found government 'failing or stalling' on 5 of 6 integrity measures (Centre for Public Integrity, 2025)

First Lower House independent on Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (Chaney - 40 hours of expert testimony)

Real-time donation disclosure practised voluntarily (Chaney, Wilkie)

Wilkie resigned from Office of National Assessments rather than support false Iraq War intelligence - the only intelligence official in Australia, UK, or US to do so publicly

106 Senate debates in one year (Pocock)

Called Robodebt 'one of the gravest administrative failures and abuses of power in our country's public history' (Pocock).

Misled Commonwealth Ombudsman during Robodebt investigation - Royal Commission found documents 'as dishonest as the Commission has seen'

Suppressed PwC report finding Robodebt 'not fit for purpose'

No federal integrity commission for nine years despite sustained community demand

$100M Sports Rorts directed by political calculation not community need

Suppressed own post-2022 election review

Speaker rebuked Wilson for 'damaging' conduct during franking credits inquiry while holding undisclosed shares

$38B JobKeeper to companies that did not suffer significant downturns - publicly refused to claw it back.

Murray-Darling Basin water systematically allocated away from communities toward corporate irrigators with political connections

Barnaby Joyce personal expenses and conduct scandals

Water management failures severe enough to generate their own royal commission.

Documented spreading disinformation by AI bots for money - corrupting the democratic information environment ordinary Australians rely on.

No accountability mechanisms.

Actively undermines democratic integrity.

Commissioned and delivered the Robodebt Royal Commission - a genuine and significant accountability act.

Established the NACC.

However: NACC has not prosecuted a single Robodebt architect despite Royal Commission findings - a significant failure of nerve.

Failed on 5 of 6 Centre for Public Integrity integrity measures (2025).

Labor MPs privately uncomfortable with this. Their discomfort matters.

Delivered the Aged Care Royal Commission response.

Conducted rigorous Senate estimates scrutiny.

Vocal Senate estimates scrutiny

Consistent integrity advocacy

Strong on FOI and whistleblower issues

Genuine conscience function in the chamber. Limited structural accountability impact as a minor party but a real contribution to parliamentary culture.

1.1 million first preference votes in 2025 - 45% increase from 2022 (Climate 200/ANU data)

ANU research confirms voting cohesion sometimes exceeding major parties

Grew from 2 seats (2019) to 10+ seats (2025)

Pocock doubled support 2022 to 2025

Spender increased margin to 58.3%

Ryan increased primary vote against massive coal-lobby-funded opposition

Boele won most marginal seat in Australia by 26 votes after legal challenge.

TRAJECTORY: GROWING AND ACCELERATING.

Worst federal result in 80 years in 2022

Lost heartland seats - Kooyong (121 years), Curtin (23 years), Wentworth, Mackellar, Goldstein, North Sydney

Own post-election review commissioned, completed, and suppressed

Some urban seat recovery in 2025

Permanent structural loss of formerly safe heartland

Party split between moderates and hard right deepening.

TRAJECTORY: STRUCTURAL CONTRACTION IN URBAN AUSTRALIA.

Stable in regional seats but increasingly captured by coal agenda and far-right positioning

Littleproud leadership driving toward One Nation territory

Coalition with Liberals under strain

Narrowing ideological base alienating moderate regional voters.

TRAJECTORY: EXTREME AND NARROWING

Volatile and dependent on preference flows, disinformation campaigns, and mining billionaire money

Peaked and plateauing

Pauline Hanson's personal brand the only consistent electoral asset

No credible path to government.

TRAJECTORY: IRRELEVANT TO CONSTRUCTIVE GOVERNANCE.

Won majority government 2022 and 2025 - a genuine democratic mandate. Albanese government's consistency and stability a real achievement after the chaos of the Morrison years. But declining first preference vote among younger voters locked out of housing

Working-class base under pressure from cost of living

Timidity on structural reform creating long-term vulnerability.

TRAJECTORY: GOVERNING WITH A MANDATE BUT FRAGILE ON REFORM.

Stable 10-Å“12% nationally

Some lower house seat gains

Significant Senate crossbench influence

Ceiling becoming visible in lower house contests.

TRAJECTORY: STABLE BUT PLATEAUING.

None documented across fifteen years of parliamentary service.

No fossil fuel company donors.

No anonymous proxy advertising. No investments betting against Australian economic well-being.

No revolving door appointments. No astroturfed campaigns.

No undisclosed shareholdings in funds benefiting from committee decisions.

The cleanest parliamentary cohort in Australian political history by any measurable standard.

Extensive and documented in ASIC filings and AEC returns.

IPA pipeline - think tank founded with grants from Santos, Shell, BHP, Rio Tinto

Alumni populate shadow cabinet.

Tim Wilson: held investment betting against Australia's economy - sold when publicly exposed.

Tim Wilson separately held shares in Narractive political agency running fake grassroots childcare campaigns - sold the day before being appointed shadow treasurer.

$1.58M in anonymous proxy advertising to win Goldstein by 175 votes.

Astroturfed campaigns: Advance Australia, Australians for Prosperity, Repeal the Teal, Childcare Choice, For Parents - all connected to Liberal operatives through ASIC filings

None disclosed political affiliations.

Coal industry capture - Canavan's consistent advocacy for Gina Rinehart-aligned coal interests

Barnaby Joyce personal conduct and expenses scandals

Water allocation corruption directing Murray-Darling resources to corporate irrigators with documented political connections

Agricultural lobby funding with partial
disclosure only.

Gina Rinehart funding - Australia's wealthiest individual funding a party whose anti-renewable, pro-coal agenda directly benefits her mining interests

AI disinformation operations funded through undisclosed commercial arrangements

Opaque donation structures with minimal public accountability.

Some union and developer capture - more transparent than Coalition but real and should be honestly acknowledged.

Too timid on negative gearing and CGT reform under property developer donor pressure despite clear policy evidence.

Generally disclosed within legal frameworks.

Not comparable to Coalition capture network in scale or systematic opacity - but the standard should be higher than 'better than the Liberals'.

None significant documented.

Community and small donor funded.

No industry capture documented.

No fossil fuel donors.

The standard of transparency other parties should be held to - and are not.

GOLD STANDARD.

Kate Chaney disclosed all donations in real time on her website during 2022 - first candidate in Australian history to do so voluntarily.

Andrew Wilkie declares all donations over $1,000 in real time since 2019.

Community funded - thousands of individual donors averaging $400-Å“$800 each.

Climate 200 fully and promptly disclosed.

All candidates publicly committed to refusing fossil fuel, gambling, tobacco, and alcohol industry donations.

DELIBERATELY OPAQUE.

Political donation laws designed - and defended by the Coalition across nine years in government - to protect donor anonymity at precisely the threshold where influence begins.

Anonymous proxy advertising cycles money through opacity vehicles to avoid disclosure.

Kooyong 200 raised $3.5M for Frydenberg through structures not required to be declared - exposed only because Ryan made it public.

$1.58M in anonymous proxy advertising against Daniel - donors still unknown.

The party that governed the disclosure laws designed its own exemptions.

PARTIALLY DISCLOSED.

Mining company and agricultural lobby funding through AEC annual returns with significant delays.

Informal regional funding networks documented but not fully disclosed.

More opaque than Labor

Less structured in opacity than Liberal proxy network.

OPAQUE.

Mining billionaire funding through structures providing minimal public disclosure.

AI disinformation operations funded through undisclosed commercial arrangements.

Full quantum of Rinehart influence and funding not in public domain

PARTIALLY TRANSPARENT

- and better than Coalition by a significant margin.

Union funding disclosed through AEC returns - the most transparent element of major party funding.

Corporate and developer donations disclosed but with legislated delays reducing real-time accountability.

Labor in government has been too slow to reform the inadequate disclosure thresholds it inherited and could change.

TRANSPARENT.

Community and small donor funded.

Publishes donation information promptly.

No significant corporate or industry funding.

No fossil fuel donors.

The standard among major parties - though all operate under the same inadequate disclosure laws urgently needing reform.

$340M secured for Royal Hobart Hospital (Wilkie, 2010 - confidence and supply)

$3B in HECS debt relief for 3 million Australians (Ryan - 260,000-signature campaign)

$110M in federal grants for Warringah (Steggall - more than under any previous major party MP)

$83M in community grants for Mackellar (Scamps)

Approximately $200M into Goldstein (Daniel)

MRI licence delivered for Sandringham Hospital (Daniel)

In-home eating disorder treatment and aged care funding (Daniel)

12,236 constituent cases resolved (Scamps alone)

51+ federally funded mobile phone towers for Indi - most successful Victorian electorate under Mobile Black Spot Program (McGowan and Haines)

National Cheaper Home Batteries Program ($415M first year) originated from Indi advocacy (Haines)

Indi leads Victoria in new home battery installations

Anti-doxxing law protecting every Australian's personal information online

Climate floor amendment protecting Australia's future emissions trajectory

$1,643 average annual income tax cut designed and costed by Spend - waiting for government courage.

JobKeeper saved an estimated 700,000 jobs during COVID - a genuine and significant achievement.

Telehealth made permanent - over 100M consultations to 17M Australians, a lasting legacy.

Free trade agreements opened preferential access to 3.4 billion customers. BUT: $38B JobKeeper to companies that did not need it - refused to claw back.

Sports Rorts - $100M directed by political calculation not community need.

$14.5B in annual fossil fuel subsidies maintained - direct transfer from taxpayers to industry donors.

An entire generation locked out of housing while negative gearing and CGT concessions were protected.

Some regional infrastructure funding secured through Coalition negotiations.

Beyond that: water diverted from communities to corporate irrigators

Renewable energy investment in regional Australia delayed

Regional communities left more economically vulnerable by coal-dependency agenda serving donors not constituents.

No documented community benefit delivered through parliamentary action.

Disinformation operations that corrupt the information environment ordinary Australians rely on to make democratic decisions and inflict measurable and ongoing harm on the commons

Genuine, substantial, and should be fully acknowledged.

15% pay rise for aged care workers - one of Australia's most undervalued workforces.

Childcare subsidy increases reducing costs for hundreds of thousands of families.

PBS co-payment cut making medicines more affordable for millions.

Fee-Free TAFE places.

5% deposit home guarantee scheme.

Increased JobSeeker payments.

Superannuation on parental leave - structural reform benefiting women's retirement savings.

Closing the Loopholes legislation restoring right to disconnect, casual conversion, and worker protections.

These are real benefits for real Australians and deserve to be named and recognised.

Advocacy contributions to climate and social justice outcomes through Senate crossbench negotiations - real but difficult to isolate.

Strong constituent service in held seats.

Contribution to crossbench pressure that improved multiple pieces of Labor legislation is genuine and should be credited.