Respect crossbench or face backlash, Andrew Wilkie warns Albanese

Returned independent MP Andrew Wilkie has warned Anthony Albanese he needed to acknowledge Australia’s new political order.

Andrew Wilkie has been returned for a fifth time to the Hobart-based seat of Clark Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Returned independent MP ­Andrew Wilkie has warned ­Anthony Albanese to “respect” the newly enlarged crossbench with a “collegiate approach” or risk a public backlash.

Returned for a fifth time to the Hobart-based seat of Clark, Mr Wilkie told The Australian that even if Labor gained the 77 seats to govern and elect a speaker, Mr ­Albanese would need to acknowledge Australia’s new political order.

“Politics has been turned on its head,” he said. “Only about a third of the country actually voted for them (Labor) with their first preference. We’ve got about a similar number who voted for non-major parties.

“The country has turned a corner here and I think for the better. It’s a much more European-like outcome. If Albo doesn’t work collegiately with the crossbench, he’s going to be making a big mistake. He needs to respect the fact that so many people voted for crossbenchers. We represent millions of Australians.”

Mr Wilkie, the former spook-turned-whistleblower-turned-Greens candidate-turned-indepen­dent, retained Clark comfortably 70-30 on a two-party-preferred basis with Labor candidate Simon Davis.

However, he suffered a negative 4.2 per cent swing on primary votes, with the Greens and One Nation growing their votes.

The seasoned politician ­believed his home state bucked ­national swings against the Liberals – returning Liberal MPs in two marginals and almost electing a third in a Labor seat – largely ­because of the calibre or otherwise of the candidates. “It is a result that does in large part reflect the very personal nature of Tasmanian politics,” he said.

Mr Wilkie, forced into isolation with Covid-19 in the campaign’s dying days, said he was “thrilled” Bridget Archer, Liberal MP for the Coalition’s most marginal seat, Bass, appeared to have been re-elected. “That is very much on ­account of Bridget being a fabulous local member and a very ­decent human being,” he said. “That’s real grassroots politics.”

In the event that Labor needed his support, he would “approach everything on its merits, including confidence and supply”.

He would be “constructive” but seek to extract outcomes for any support required from him.

“Every vote is an opportunity to influence government policy and outcomes,” he said.