Shut independents out of hung parliament, Joel Fitzgibbon urges Labor and Coalition

Labor luminary Joel Fitzgibbon has urged both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton to agree ahead of the election to endorse government for the major party that wins the most seats if there is a hung parliament.

Former Labor frontbenchers Joel Fitzgibbon in Kitchener, NSW, on Monday; inset, with Anthony Albanese and independent Rob Oakeshott in 2010. Picture: Jane Dempster, Ray Strange

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Labor luminary Joel Fitzgibbon has urged both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton to agree ahead of the election to endorse government for the major party that wins the most seats if there is a hung parliament, in a move that would sideline independents and minor parties while paving the way for a new era of economic reform.

The former defence minister in the Rudd government is urging the leader of the major party with the lower seat count to guarantee supply and confidence for 18 months, while also backing an “agreed economic and regulatory reform package” with input from premiers, industry and unions.

Writing in The Australian, Mr Fitzgibbon, who retired from his 26-year career in parliament at the last election, declares a hung parliament provided Labor and the Coalition with an opportunity to tackle much needed reform that was becoming “more politically dangerous and difficult”.

Mr Fitzgibbon, the chief government whip during the minority Gillard government, writes the hung parliament that bolstered the influence of the Greens and independents after the 2010 election was “just ugly”.

With the polls showing neither side on track to win a majority, the former Hunter MP suggests that Coalition and Labor MPs would be “shaking in their boots” at the prospect of forming a minority government with the support of maverick crossbenchers, Teal MPs or the Greens.

Mr Fitzgibbon concedes Labor and ­Coalition MPs would consider it “blaspheming” to suggest they help the other side form ­government, but argues it is a ­better ­option than an ­“investment-­chilling, dysfunctional parliament”.

“There is a strong argument that if both the major parties fail to secure a majority at the next election, the party leader with the greater number of seats should be supported to form a government,” Mr Fitzgibbon writes.

“Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton may soon be gifted the opportunity to seriously revive the economic reform agenda by agreeing — prior to the election — that whoever has the most seats post-election, will be guaranteed both supply and confidence for 18 months hence. Further, each major party will support an agreed economic and regulatory reform package.

“They should further agree that the reform package will be drafted by a roundtable of relevant stakeholders including the major parties, state premiers, and representatives from industry and community sector peak bodies and the trade union movement.

“Tax reform (including state taxes like payroll), and regulatory burden, should be agenda items one and two.”

While the Greens have ruled out backing the Coalition if there is a hung parliament, teal MPs and other independents have left the door open to supporting either side to form government.

Independent MPs Andrew Wilkie and Helen Haines have ruled out signing any long-term agreements to support confidence and supply of a minority government — increasing the likelihood of instability.

Teal MPs and the Greens have flagged an intention to push for an end to coal and gas development and higher climate targets in a hung parliament, raising the prospect investment in the resources sector will be curtailed.

Woodside Energy chief executive Meg O’Neill – whose $30bn North West Shelf extension project appears to be most at threat in the event of a hung parliament – told The Australian last month a balance of power featuring the Greens and teals would “frankly … be a nightmare”.

Most Labor MPs are conceding it is unlikely Labor can win the next election with a majority, after winning 77 out of 151 seats at the 2022 poll.

Declaring that the Greens are “salivating” at the prospect of having more say in a hung parliament, Mr Fitzgibbon warns important tax reform is becoming more difficult as the major parties lose support.

“Could Hawke and Keating progress their economic reforms in our current political environment? I suspect not,” he writes.

“Could John Howard win an election promising a GST? I doubt it. Reform has slowed and the culprit is not a lack of political courage, it’s the reality of our modern parliamentary democracy.

“The electorate has changed dramatically, yet our parliamentary processes, culture, and behaviour have hardly changed at all. They now need to.”

Mr Fitzgibbon writes that tax reform is essential to pay for the nation’s growing needs, including in defence.

“Our strategic guidance is demanding we invest even more in our defence capability than is currently proposed, and we must,” he writes. “But where will the money come from? More public debt is not an option and budget saving opportunities are very real but limited.

“What we need is a significant and ongoing efficiency and growth dividend. Ironically, a hung parliament may provide our best chance of securing one.”