Independent Senator Steve Martin to join National Party

JACQUI Lambie has hit out at her senate replacement Steve Martin’s decision to join the National Party, slamming it as a ‘marriage of convenience’ in a scathing statement.

JACQUI Lambie has hit out at her senate replacement’s decision to join the National Party, slamming it as a “marriage of convenience for two increasingly desperate parties”.

The former senator released a scathing statement this afternoon following independent Tasmanian senator Steve Martin’s announcement he was joining the Nationals.

She described it as a “marriage of convenience” for “the drifting Nationals in the post-Barnaby era and the country’s loneliest senator, Steve Martin”.

Ms Lambie, whose tell-all interview on Seven’s Sunday Night program last night has been decribed as “cringeworthy”, also slammed the Nationals for their track record in Tasmania of attempting to establish a state branch and then abandoning it.

“What is going to be different this time? Nothing,” she said, questioning whether there would be a battle between the Liberals and Nationals in Tasmania for “Senate relevance”.

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Steve Martin and Jacqui Lambie. Picture: Supplied

“I can only wish the new National Party a better start in Tasmania than on the last three attempts and I can only hope that the people of Tasmania get the level of representation that they deserve,” she said.

Senator Martin left the Jacqui Lambie Network after a dispute with Ms Lambie over whether he would step aside to allow her to make a parliamentary comeback.

Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack welcomed Senator Martin to the Nationals today, describing him as a “Tasmanian tiger” who would fight for Tassie voters and regional development.

The former Devonport mayor, who was sworn in to replace Ms Lambie in February after she resigned following her shock announcement she was a dual citizen, becomes the Nationals first senator in Tasmania in more than 90 years.

Senator Martin said the party was “a good natural fit” with his political beliefs.

“I felt drawn to the National Party because of their representation in rural and regional Australia and that really fits with Tasmania and I think I fit the Nationals,” he said.

After being likened to a Tasmanian tiger, the Senator said he wasn’t worried about becoming politically extinct given the party hadn’t had a representative in the state for almost a century.

His decision to join will make it slightly easier for the Coalition to pass legislation in the upper house.

Ex-Senator Lambie used the announcement to clarify her own future:

To answer the many wonderful messages, I will be running to return the Senate seat to the people of Tasmania who want a truly independent voice in Canberra. Trust me, I am biting at the bit, looking forward to taking the Nats out! 🙏 #auspol #politas

— Jacqui Lambie (@JacquiLambie) May 28, 2018

The government will now need eight out of ten crossbench senators to pass bills, if Labor and the Greens are opposed to legislation.

Senator Martin will join Nationals senators Matthew Canavan, Nigel Scullion, deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie, Barry O’Sullivan and John “Wacka” Williams.

Senator Steve Martin becomes the first National senator in Tasmania for more than 90 years. Picture: AAP

The party’s numbers were depleted last year when Fiona Nash lost her seat over citizenship issues.

Senate President Stephen Parry’s departure over dual citizenship issues last year and Senator Cory Bernardi’s departure to form the Australian Conservatives further depleted the Coalition’s numbers in the Senate.

Mr McCormack said he was delighted to have Senator Martin join the party.

Senator Martin will be the second senator to join the Coalition from the crossbench in recent months after Lucy Gichuhi joined the Liberal Party.

Originally published as Independent Senator Steve Martin to join National Party