‘Turbo-charged’ Centre Alliance mulls future

The party-of-three is considering whether to pull up stumps in three years.

‘If we believe we’re making a difference, we’ll all keep going’: Centre Alliance senator Stirling Griff in Adelaide yesterday. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Key crossbench senator Rex Patric­k is “turbo-charging’’ effort­s to build brand recognition for the Centre Alliance­ in the wake of its poor federal election result­, as the party of three considers whether to pull up stumps in three years.

Despite being powerful in federal­ parliament, where Senator Patrick and colleague Stirling Griff hold two Senate seats and share the balance of power with four other crossbenchers, the ­alliance’s influence has not materialised in the electorate.

The minor party suffered a 19.16 per cent swing against it in the Senate in its home state of South Australia at the May election, failing to pick up any new seats, and received a smaller first-preference vote than One ­Nation and Clive Palmer’s United Aust­ralia Party.

The party spent $200,000 on its 2019 election campaign — less than a fifth of what it spent at each of the 2013 and 2016 elections — and ran lower-house candidates in just three SA seats.

Centre Alliance MP Rebekha Sharkie retained her South Aust­ralian seat of Mayo.

“Centre Alliance was prev­iously the Nick Xenophon Team and Nick was removed from the equation,’’ Senator Patrick told The Weekend Australian. “When we rebranded as Centre Alliance a year ago or thereabouts, we knew we would have to slowly rebuild that brand. You’ll notice over the last couple of months we have started to turbo-charge that.

“Recognition is the key ­element of being re-elected. In the past, we have worked quietly on getting good outcomes either from a legislative perspective or a South Australian perspective. We recognise that this time we have to do something different.”

What ensued was a concerted campaign by Senator Patrick to blitz the media across print, radio and television. He spoke to the media daily and revealed he had a written copy of the government’s draft gas policy as he negotiated a suite of measures with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and Resources Minister Matthew Canavan to decrease gas prices in exchange for Centre Alliance’s support for the government’s $158 billion tax cuts package.

The former submariner and key Xenophon adviser was less forthcoming when asked whether he would run for election in 2022.

Senator Griff said the three Centre Alliance MPs, who have three years until they face re-elect­ion, discussed their respective political futures at a partyroom meeting ahead of the resumption of parliament. “If it gets to the point where it becomes incredibly tiresome and we’re not getting runs on the board, one or all of us will bow out,” Senator Griff said.

“If we’re enjoying what we’re doing, if we believe we’re making a difference, we’ll all keep going.”

Centre Alliance’s policy priorit­ies for the 46th parliament are SA-focused, including driving down energy prices in the state, assistance for manufacturers and a more transparent Murray-­Darling Basin scheme.

The minor party has a loose ­alliance with Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, which is capable of blocking government bills.

The Centre Alliance MPs are not bound to vote together on all motions or pieces of legislation but have not split their vote to date. “My philosophy (to negotiations) is: how do you eat an ele­phant? And the answer is: one bite at a time,” Senator Patrick said.