Revealed: Labor and Liberal strategies to smash Nick Xenophon’s electoral success

NICK Xenophon is insisting all his party candidates across Australia back Adelaide for three multibillion-dollar defence projects as The Advertiser reveals how the major parties plan to bring him down.

NICK Xenophon is insisting all his party candidates across Australia back Adelaide for three multi-billion dollar defence shipbuilding projects, as The Advertiser reveals details of the major parties’ election-year assaults aimed at smashing his extraordinary popularity.

Both major parties fear the prospect of Nick Xenophon Team candidates securing 20 per cent-plus support in the eight SA lower house seats they will contest and, potentially, winning on preferences.

In a sign of their alarm, the Liberals are reviving almost 20-year-old parliamentary allegations that Senator Xenophon was originally not a blanket No Pokies candidate and instead merely backed the removal of machines from hotels.

Senior Labor and Liberal sources told The Advertiser they would attack Senator Xenophon over his commitment to SA now that he has launched a national party and was spending time campaigning for candidates in every state.

They hope the SA senator will lose control of candidates in his personality-based party and it will fracture and explode, just as Clive Palmer’s has.

Labor is vowing to attack Senator Xenophon’s previous push to scrap penalty rates for businesses with fewer than 20 staff, following a union campaign which was credited by Premier Jay Weatherill as a key reason for his 2014 state election victory.

The Liberals aim to create cracks in his SA-first focus by playing up the potential for division with interstate candidates. For example, Western Australia’s NXT candidate will have to go against his state’s push to build offshore patrol vessels in Perth, rather than Adelaide, from 2018.

Both Liberal and Labor senior figures declined to make on-the-record comments, fearing a fierce voter backlash if they were seen to be picking on Senator Xenophon.

In written responses to questions from The Advertiser summarising the major parties’ strategies, Senator Xenophon said: “All candidates, while they will advocate for what is the best outcome for their state, will take an overarching commonsense approach to issues.”

But he said all candidates in all states would back a multi-billion dollar SA build of future submarines, frigates and offshore patrol vessels because this made economic and strategic sense.

“These projects are nation-building because they inevitably involve other states in the supply chain and in long-term sustainment,” Senator Xenophon said, in a statement prepared with his lead SA Senate candidate Stirling Griff.

“A local SA build, compared to an overseas build, will also have huge flow-on effects for other states, including WA.”

But asked about campaigning for WA shipbuilding in December, his Senate candidate in that state, Luke Bolton, said: “There’s a fair amount of shipbuilding work on the cards, we can look for the ships we want.”

Senator Nick Xenophon will make support for SA’s shipbuilding industry a non-negotiable part of his election platform. Picture: Matt Turner

Senator Xenophon, who launched the NXT in late 2014, is attempting to leverage the extraordinary 24.88 per cent of the first-preference SA Senate vote he secured at the 2013 federal election into historic Lower House victories.

Both major parties are likely to seize upon Senator Xenophon’s response to Advertiser questions about NXT membership rights, in which he says voting rights for party governance are held by a four-person management committee — himself, Mr Griff, state upper house MP John Darley and senior adviser Connie Bonaros.

“In other words, it’s an aristocracy and St Nick is the benevolent dictator,” one major party source said.

Senator Xenophon’s formal position within his fledgling party is, according to the NXT statement, “a convener of like-minded people who will take a commonsense approach to politics”.

The party is not seeking to be an alternative government and, therefore, will not produce detailed and costed policies ahead of this year’s election, basing positions on 38 principles listed on the NXT website.

Senator Xenophon rejected questions about reduced commitment to SA because of six interstate candidate launches last month, saying these had been done in what was meant to be his holiday time, outside of parliamentary sitting weeks and committee activity.

He also said his 1997 poker machine position had been grossly misrepresented. He said that his position was, in fact, to see a dramatic reduction in the number and, if they had to be in SA, having them in community clubs was preferable to more machines in for-profit pubs.

Asked to comment on the Liberal strategy, state director Sascha Meldrum said: “Voting for personality-based parties like Palmer United and Nick Xenophon Team could see Bill Shorten become PM with lower house preferences benefiting Labor candidates.”

Labor state director Reggie Martin said: “The Labor Party will be taking every opportunity to increase its vote at the next election and that may involve drawing contrasts between the Labor Party and all other candidates.”

LABOR AND LIBERAL ATTACK LINES

BOTH PARTIES

Is Senator Xenophon an independent senator or leader of a national party, which risks fracturing like Clive Palmer’s? Senator Xenophon’s response: “His formal position in NXT is that of ... a convener of like-minded people who will take a commonsense approach to politics.”

Seize upon NXT’s governance by four-person committee, described by one source as benevolent dictatorship by “St Nick”.

LIBERAL

Will policies like defence shipbuilding remain SA-focused now a national party? Senator Xenophon is vowing all candidates will back SA build of submarines, frigates and corvettes.

Revive allegations that Senator Xenophon’s 1997 state campaign policy was not No Pokies but no pokies in pubs. Senator Xenophon’s response: “Preference is to see a dramatic reduction in the number of poker machines ... and if we must have (them), it would be preferable to have some machines in community clubs, rather than more machines in for-profit pubs.”

LABOR

Revive union scare campaign about Senator Xenophon’s previous push to scrap penalty rates for businesses with fewer than 20 staff. Senator Xenophon’s response; “We are not anti-penalty rates for nurses, doctors, or any other shift worker, or any employee that works overtime or non-standard hours ... The NXT position, modified after much consultation, is to support the independent umpire, the Fair Work Commission.”

ANALYSIS — BY PAUL STARICK

NICK Xenophon is the wildcard in the South Australian election pack, threatening to wildly disrupt the traditional two-party system at this year’s federal poll.

For almost 20 years, he has perplexed major party strategists, who have been unable to counter his surging voter appeal.

Now he has launched candidates Australia-wide, increasing his already high profile but exposing a significant flank to major party attack. They hope a personality-based party will explode in flames, just as Clive Palmer’s has.

But Senator Xenophon is poised to capitalise on growing unrest at the two-party system, which has delivered instability in the form of five prime ministers in five years.

In the United States, presidential primary voters are embracing unconventional candidates like Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

If anything, Senator Xenophon’s popularity is surging at a time when the Labor and Liberal parties can least afford it.

They will attempt to burst Mr X’s balloon by hunting down and attacking inconsistencies in his policy positions and those of his candidates, highlighting small gaps between them.

An example is his insistence that all candidates across Australia will back an Adelaide build of submarines, frigates and corvettes, despite WA’s fight to wrench the latter from SA. This will put WA Senate candidate Luke Bolton in a bind.

But the risk for the major parties is demonstrated by their reluctance to make on-the-record criticisms of Senator Xenophon, fearing that would trigger a voter backlash.

Senator Xenophon, rightly or wrongly, is viewed as a champion of the little people, fearlessly taking on entrenched interests while eschewing the trappings of power.

This means voters do not expect him to produce detailed and costed policies — just act as an independent watchdog.

To smash his popularity, the major parties will have to wreck this image by successfully portraying him as leading an out-of-control personality cult saddled with a bunch of haphazard candidates.

If they cannot do this within months, the fledgling Nick Xenophon Team will be a strong chance of securing lower house seats if they can attract primary support of more than 20 per cent.

Labor and Liberal preferences would then decide the result and the NXT might well pick up some of the eight SA seats in which candidates are standing.