Nick Xenophon’s name stripped from his parties as new names revealed

NICK Xenophon will effectively disappear from the parties he founded — as the federal arm rebrands itself as Centre Alliance and the state branch sheds his name to become SA-Best.

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NICK Xenophon will effectively disappear from the parties he founded as the federal arm becomes Centre Alliance and the state branch sheds his name to become SA-Best.

In a note to be issued to party supporters on Tuesday, Mr Xenophon blames an unprecedented multimillion-dollar campaign for thwarting his ambition to secure lower house seats at last month’s state election.

But he holds out hope that the party will contest future state and federal elections, with party sources saying several people are interested in running interstate at the next federal poll.

Mr Xenophon’s 20-year political career in state and federal parliaments ended when he finished third in the eastern Adelaide seat of Hartley and he will be a voting member, rather than hold leadership roles, in the newly named parties.

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The federal Nick Xenophon Team, under whose banner Rebekha Sharkie was elected to the Adelaide Hills seat of Mayo and Stirling Griff to the Senate, becomes the Centre Alliance — a name Mr Xenophon says “reflects our commonsense approach to tackling issues”.

“It is also hoped that the name change will attract like-minded candidates from other states for the next federal election,” Mr Xenophon says in his note.

Nick Xenophon, Rebekha Sharkie and Stirling Griff. Picture: Brenton Edwards

While the party will not have a federal parliamentary leader, Senator Griff will be the chairman, secretary and treasurer, while the registered officer will be Senator Rex Patrick, who replaced Mr Xenophon when he quit the upper house last year.

The state party will change from Nick Xenophon’s SA-Best to SA-Best, which Mr Xenophon says reflects the fact that he is not a member of the State Parliament.

Connie Bonaros and Frank Pangallo were elected to the upper house at the March 17 state election.

Mr Xenophon blames an “unprecedented multimillion-dollar campaign against us by both major parties, unions and the poker machine lobby”, saying this was too much for a “tiny start-up party” to counter and win lower house seats.

This was despite Mr Xenophon leading as preferred premier in opinion polls a fortnight before the election and winning the Advertiser/Sky News people’s forum debate against the-then premier Jay Weatherill and Liberal leader Steven Marshall.

In his note, Mr Xenophon says both the Centre Alliance and SA-Best will stand for “responsible, transparent and accountable government”, along with “Australian industry and nation building endeavours”.

The Advertiser last month revealed Mr Xenophon would banish himself to political exile for at least the next few months as the former publicity hound leaves the limelight to the party’s MPs. He will remain in Adelaide and focus on his Paradise-based legal practice.