Scottish legacy dooms Lambie’s time in Senate as she quits to fight another day
SHE was the unlikely senator who won Australian hearts with her brutal honesty, skewering of pollies and love of a good ball gown.
THE following was true three years ago and remains so: It’s a hell of democracy that can find room for a Jacqui Lambie.
All Senator Lambie fans have at some stage been horrified by her.
Her loud quest for the occasional “root” and her resorting to even earthier language has set her apart from the many stale and dull folk of the Parliament — not always to her advantage.
But those same fans, when they recover, would readily see the outbursts as evidence she was a genuine and uncorrupted person, a mould-breaking member of the Senate. In fact, they will see her as an Upper House adornment.
No more.
Scottish heritage has given her dual citizenship, which bars her from sitting in Parliament. And all of Australia, not just her home state of Tasmania, will be worse off without her in Parliament.
I am among those alternately shocked and fascinated fans.
In September 2014, soon after her election as one of Clive Palmer’s small group, I said this on the ABC’s Australian Story: “It’s part of the brilliance and the resilience of our political system that this woman, who’s been 14 years without a job, raised two kids, can make it to the Australian Parliament.
“This is her opportunity to prove that she deserves to be here. But in the end, it’s a hell of democracy that can find room for Jacqui Lambie.”
Ms Lambie did establish she deserved to be elected, and her new Lambie party might do so again in Tasmanian state politics.
However, the woman herself has the taste of federal politics in her mouth and it would be surprising if she were not to attempt a Senate comeback to continue her work in areas such as veterans’ affairs.
When she arrived an unknown senator from the smallest state, her first big appointment was with Prime Minister Tony Abbott. Previously she had called him a psychopath and a barefaced liar. The bogan was not going to bow to the PM.
“You know, I just said I don’t believe he has leader qualities,” she recalled.
“And I’ve walked out of there and I still don’t believe he has leadership qualities.
“Yeah. I just think, ‘Well, you know what? Don’t worry about it, mate, ’cause I don’t really need your help.’”
Ms Lambie will be replaced in the Senate, adding to the extraordinary churn of membership since the July 2, 2016 election.
Eight of the 76 senators — 10.5 per cent of the total — failed to get elected last year. Yet they will be sitting in the chamber on $200,000 a year, having been moved from the political bench.
It’s a reduction in continuity and experience and a waste of money. Even someone as popular as Ms Lambie has to wear the charge of costly incompetence.
Worse, the second and in some cases third string candidates elevated by accident won’t have the Lambie touch.
Her life story, including the horror of a son addicted to ice, which she revealed as a lesson for all, her military experience and the plight of veterans she knew first-hand built a substantial character in Australian politics.
A newcomer will sit in her Senate seat, but won’t be as substantial a replacement.
Here are some of the most memorable moments from her time in parliament.
THE TIME SHE CALLED CORY BERNARDI AN ‘A***HOLE’
One of Ms Lambie’s more memorable interviews was on Kitchen Cabinet and she mentioned there were senators she didn’t like.
Ms Lambie: “There’s been a couple of times I’ve thought about jumping out of my seat and going across the floor”
Host Annabel Crabb: “Who would be your first victim, do you reckon?”
Ms Lambie: “(Cory) Bernardi ... Yeah. He’s just an a****hole. Typical, ‘Hello, I’m born with a silver spoon up my rear end’.”
THEN PULLED OUT HER BALL GOWN COLLECTION
After dinner she showed Crabb through her hilarious collection of formal dresses, many of which she had never worn publicly.
WHEN SHE REVEALED HER SON WAS A DRUG ADDICT
Ms Lambie used her maiden speech to publicly reveal her son’s addiction to ice.
“I think you’ll find there is quite a few people out there who know about my circumstances but the sad thing is there are so many others and nobody is getting up and really speaking about this,” she said.
“I thought, you know what, the ball is rolling and it’s time for me to put my head up and see what I can do.”
She later told 7.30 that she asked her son to leave home because “things were going missing”.
Ms Lambie has called for national legislation that would enable parents to force children into rehabilitation.
AND HER STRUGGLES AS A MUM
Ms Lambie opened up about her struggles as a single mum, her battle with addiction and a suicide attempt during an episode of Australian Story.
She revealed how her youngest child, Dylan became her “main carer” at the age of seven after she slid into depression and began to abuse alcohol and prescription drugs.
An injury during a 1997 training exercise while carrying a heavy weight on her back ended her career as a military police officer.
Ms Lambie said her son turned to drugs at the age of 13 as he struggled to deal with the responsibilities foisted upon him at an early age.
“By the time he was 13 he was, he was taking drugs and, um, you know? So you’re trying to deal with yourself and trying to deal with him. And, yeah he, he, um. Yeah, he’s paid the price for that.”
WHEN SHE DROPPED OUT OF CLIVE PALMER’S PARTY
Ms Lambie was the first senator to split from the Palmer United Party, which saw her elected to the Senate.
Leader Clive Palmer blamed Ms Lambie’s ambitions to be prime minister and her strong advocacy for a better pay deal for Australia’s defence forces.
“We haven’t spoken to her for over a month. All I can put it down to is that we refuse to turn our backs on the Australian flag on Remembrance Day, which she wanted us to do, and that we said that we wouldn’t vote against every piece of legislation for the next five and a half years,” he said.
“That’s where we differed and she went berserk on that, really.”
Ms Lambie said: “I just want to do the right thing. I just want to do what I was elected in to do. I just want to stay honest. I want my integrity to stay intact and I just want to get on with the job.”
DREW ON HER EXPERIENCES TO OPPOSE WELFARE CUTS
The senator cried in Parliament as she described trying to make ends meet as a single mum during debate about the Turnbull Government’s cuts to welfare.
“There were times when I would sit in a corner and cry, I was so ashamed,” she said.
“This is what it is like. It is not a choice for many of us to be on welfare. It is shameful and it is embarrassing, and it is bloody tough,” she said.
“I want you to know that’s what it’s like to be at the bottom of the crap pile, through no fault of our own, for many of us.”
GOT INTO AN INFAMOUS DEBATE ABOUT SHARIA LAW
In one of the most heated discussions on Q&A Ms Lambie sparked controversy when she voiced her concerns about sharia law.
Muslim activist Yassmin Abdel-Magied defended Islam, describing it as a feminist religion and questioning whether Lambie knew what sharia law was.
Ms Lambie hit back with: “Highlighting and accepting the good bits of sharia law, like praying five times a day, while at the same time ignoring the death penalty for women who have sex outside marriage is like saying, ‘I only want to be a little bit pregnant’.
Ms Lambie eventually released a video about sharia law to address the backlash from her appearance.
DESCRIBED HER IDEAL MAN AS ‘WELL HUNG’
Ms Lambie was asked about her ideal man on Heart 107.3 FM and said: “They must have heaps of cash and they’ve got to have a package between their legs, let’s be honest”.
She was forced to apologise but said her comments were just a bit of fun.
AND VISITED A SEX SHOP WITH STAFFERS
Earlier this year Ms Lambie defended a trip to an adult shop with her political staffers to buy some “Christmas trinkets” last year.
“We had been working nine or ten days straight,” she told Sky News.
“By the way, it’s a local business — it’s locally owned, what is stopping me from going in to speak to the people in that business?
“As well as that, we were getting Christmas trinkets.”
— Additional reporting, Charis Chang
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