Lists

History of independents standing for the senate


July 25, 2016

This list tracks the history of independents standing for the Senate.

NSW 2013
The four ungrouped candidates came last and received 551 of 4.376m votes between them.

There were 44 above the line groups, comprising 42 registered parties and 2 groups of independents which both finished in the bottom 6 with just 4563 votes them them, or 0.11%.

Victoria 2013

The two ungrouped candidates came last with just 704 votes out of 3.381 million

There were 39 above the line group, comprising 37 registered parties and 2 groups of independents which got 0.04 and 0.01 respectively or just .

Queensland 2013

No ungrouped individual candidates and 36 grouped parties plus two grouped independents which both got 0.07%.

WA 2013

27 groups above the line and only One Nation below the line which came last with 0.03%. No independent candidates stood.

SA 2013

34 above the line groups with two independent groups which polled 0.1% and 0.05% respectively.

Two independents below the line who came last with 0.01% each or just 181 votes between them.

Tasmania 2013

23 above the line groups and just one independent below the line who polled 0.1%

ACT 2013

13 above the line parties and just one independent below the line who polled 0.21% and came second last.

NT 2013

12 parties above the line but not an independent to be seen anywhere.

Summary of 2013


There were no independents above or below the line in WA or NT.

Of the 238 above the line groups in 2013, only 8 or 3.3% were independents and none polled higher than a group in SA which scored 0.1%.

There were only 10 individual independent candidates who nominated in the 8 elections across Australia and the highest vote was 0.21% in the ACT, where the field was only 13 above the line.

There was only 18 independent options across the 8 jurisdictions or just 2.25 on average in each.

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NSW 2010

28 groups above the line but 11 of these were independent groups. Even Cheryl Kernot only managed to poll 0.11%, which was the most of any independent group but still below the 0.16% primary vote achieved by the party simply called "Communist".

There were 5 independents below the line but they collectively polled just 0.04%.

Victoria 2010

21 groups above the line but only 2 were independent. Paula and I were last on the ballot paper but scored 0.11%, just above Joe Toscano's alternative independent group which scored 0.1%. We beat 5 of the other groups. The 2 below the line independent candidates beat no-one, sharing just 0.03% between them.

Queensland 2010

23 groups above the line with 4 of them independent groups. The best managed 0.09%.

6 independents below the line who managed a miserable 0.06% between them.

WA 2010

23 above the line groups including 4 independents. The best had the donkey vote and scored 0.29%.

One independent below the line came last with 0.03%.

SA 2010

18 groups above the line but only one independent group which came 4th last polling 0.21%.

The sole independent below the line polled 0.08%, coming last.

Tasmania 2010

11 groups above the line but no independents.

One independent below the line came third last with 0.32%.

ACT 2010

Just 4 groups above the line and the solo independent came a long last with 1.12%.

NT 2010

6 groups above the line but no independents.

3 candidates below the line including the Democrats. They polled a combined 0.67% which was less than the least popular above the line player, CEC, which polled 0.95%.

Summary of 2010

22 independent groups above the line out of a total of 134. That's 16.4%

19 independent candidates below the line and the best 1.12% in the ACT.

41 independent options in total or an average of 5.12% in each jurisdiction.

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NSW 2007

3 of 25 groups were independents and they finished in the last 3 spots thanks to a lack of branding.

4 independents below the line and they all did even worse.

Victoria 2007

23 groups above the line, 4 of which were independent. Joe Toscano's group did best with 0.19%.

3 independents and One Nation WA below the line and they beat no-one above the line.

Queensland 2007

4 of 24 above the line groups were independent. The best got 0.08%.

6 independents below the line and they beat no-one polling 0.03% between them

WA 2007

3 of 21 above the line groups were independent with Graeme Campbell's group doing best with 0.14%.

2 independents below the line came a long way last with just 304 votes between them.

SA 2007

Only 2 of 19 groups above the line were independent including Nick Xenophon in last place with Group S, where his group polled an impressive 15.32%, winning a quota in their own right. The other independents managed just 0.06%, beating only the CEC.

The two independents below the line were beaten by the CEC, managing just 143 votes between them.

Tasmania 2007

3 of the 11 above the line groups were independent. The best managed 0.45% as a group. No single candidates below the line.

ACT 2007

8 above the line groups and not an independent to be seen anywhere.

NT 2007

5 party groups above the line and one independent below the line who came a long last with 0.27% or just 212 votes.

Summary of 2007


19 independent groups above the line out of a total of 136 or some 14%.

17 ungrouped independent candidates below the line.

Total independent options were 36 across 8 elections or an average of 4.5 in each jurisdiction.