Why we haven’t heard the last of George Christensen

Maverick. Rebel. Rogue. Member for Manila. All things George Christensen has been called as a politician but perhaps it’s his own descriptor – mongrel – that means we haven’t heard the last of him, writes Rae Wilson.

George Christensen has worn many labels during his four terms in federal parliament.

Maverick. Rebel. Controversial. Rogue. Member for Manila.

But he has now proudly labelled himself a political mongrel.

Separating himself from what he calls the political poodles, the outgoing Dawson MP said political mongrels “bring about change”.

“When I came to this place, someone told me about two paths that lay ahead: the path of the poodle and the path of the mongrel,” he said during his parliamentary valedictory speech.

“They said that the poodles in politics do what they’re told, get the accolades and end up sniffing the ministerial leather right up close.

“But nothing changes if it’s left up to the poodles. That’s where the mongrels come in.

Dawson MP George Christensen makes his valedictory speech in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra, Thursday, March 31, 2022. Picture: Mick Tsikas

“Political mongrels might be mangy; they might growl when they’re grumpy, and they might soil the carpet every so often, but they bark when needed and aren’t afraid to nip issues in the bud when needed as well.

“They keep the poodles in the ministerial leather that they’re accustomed to but are pretty much put in the ‘never to be promoted’ column.

“It doesn’t need to be said that I took the path of the political mongrel.

“Political mongrels get things done. For my electorate and my people, I’ve proudly been a political mongrel.”

There is little doubt George Christensen’s name is synonymous with fighting for the battler, crossing the floor against his own party to take a stand on important issues and speaking his mind despite party politics.

Banking, insurance and sugar code changes are chief among his achievements.

And his work ethic within the Mackay, and wider Dawson, region is lauded – his presence at local events only rivalled by Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson until vaccination mandates came in.

It’s a shame his trips to the Philippines, where he met his wife, will overshadow nationally a lot of his hard work and his views on vaccination mandates during Covid sidelined any authority he held within the party ahead of him stepping down.

His decision to step aside to spend time with his wife April and their daughter Margaret is admirable – politics is a tough life for a new family man.

George Christensen with his daughter Margaret and wife April. Picture: Supplied

But Mr Christensen, who this week tested positive to Covid, says his decision is also about being no longer interested in dealing with politics or ‘staged’ parliament anymore.

“I actually don’t like coming to Canberra anymore,” he said during parliament.

“The parliamentary processes to me seem so stale and staged.

Cartoonist Harry Bruce reflects on George Christensen leaving parliament after four terms with the Federal Government.

“Question time’s a farce, where government backbenchers ask pointless questions written by someone else, and opposition members ask pointless ‘gotcha’ questions that never get answers.

“And the public hate the vitriol and the behaviour displayed during question time.

“I’m guilty; I stand condemned for being part of that behaviour.

“We say something in favour of a government bill, the opposition say something against it and we all vote for it or against it, depending on what the party says.

“In the Labor Party you get expelled for doing anything else. On our side, you just get ostracised. What happened to individuality in this place? What happened to critical thinking? What happened to true representation?

“As a nation we bemoan the fact that most politicians are white-bread, cookie-cutter replicas of one another, but, on the other hand, we decry a spark of individuality as chaos, destabilisation and disunity.

Kennedy MP Bob Katter and Dawson MP George Christensen celebrate the reinsurance pool passing.

“The notion of party discipline needs to give way to representation, just like it does in many other legislatures around the world; otherwise, we run the risk of Parliament House degenerating into a sheltered workshop for people who can’t think for themselves.”

Christensen has certainly been out on a relatively lonely limb in the past two years with his views on vaccination mandates.

But he is firmly against the government’s net zero policy and digital identity bill.

“I am not sure whether I’ve departed from the values of my party in government or the other way around — perhaps it’s a bit of both — so continuing on as the member for Dawson, for the LNP or otherwise, when my values more and more differed from the government I was part of, weighed heavily on me,” he said during his speech.

“So I’m freeing myself, knowing this is no longer the world I belong to.”

His words rang further true on Thursday when he resigned from the Liberal National Party, effective immediately.

Dawson MP George Christensen at Parliament House on March 29, 2022 in Canberra, Australia. Picture: Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Sharing a photo of his letter to the Queensland State Secretary of the LNP, he said he had been a member of the party for almost three decades and his decision did not come easily.

“My resignation should come as no surprise given the public disenchantment I have expressed about the party’s direction, particularly its support of a net zero target and, more so, its failure to take action against vaccine mandates and destructive pandemic policies,” he writes.

“I could go on, but this letter is not the time and place for it.

“The party needs to undertake some serious soul-searching about what – and who — it stands for.”

He might have resigned from parliament and the LNP but I doubt he will stay quiet for long.

Our political mongrel is sure to get his teeth stuck into something meaty again before too long.

What that is remains to be seen.

Originally published as Why we haven’t heard the last of George Christensen