Independents who have served in Australian parliaments

Peter Andren: a former teacher, journalist and radio and television producer, he was an independent member for Calare, NSW, in the house of representatives from 1996 until 2007. In 2007 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away in the same year.

Fraser Anning: was elected to the Senate in November 2017 after a special recount was triggered by the removal of One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts. Anning chose not to join One Nation in the Senate, sitting instead as an independent until June 2018, when he joined Katter's Australian Party (KAP) as its first senator. Anning was expelled by KAP in October 2018 for his views on race and immigration, then established his own party and was defeated at the 2019 election.

Lex Bell: Independent MP for Surfers Paradise from 2001-2004 and served on the Gold Coast City Council for 16 years from 1985–2001, including an extended period as mayor from 1988 until 1994.

Sam Benson: he served with the navy during World War II where he commanded the HMAS Kiama. He was elected to the house of representatives in 1962 as the Labor member for Batman. He was re-elected in 1963, but 3 years later was expelled from the ALP because of his support of continued Australian participation in the Vietnam War. He was re-elected as an independent in 1966 and retired in 1969.

Peter Besseling: a former NSW rugby union player, he was elected as an independent member, in the NSW lower house representing Port Macquarie, at a 2008 by-election following the resignation of Rob Oakeshott.

Doris Blackburn: married to Maurice Blackburn and fellow Labor party member, she was upset at his treatment by the Labor party, so following his death she stood as an Independent candidate for Maurice's old seat of Bourke at the 1946 election, which she won and held until 1949.

Maurice Blackburn: a lawyer and member of the Labor party, in 1914 he entered the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the member for the Essendon, but lost his seat in 1917. He returned to practicing law, establishing the firm Maurice Blackburn & Co. in 1921. In 1925 he returned to parliament as the member for Fitzroy, but resigned in 1934 so he could contest the Federal seat of Bourke which he won and held until he lost at the 1943 election. During this time he was expelled twice from the Labor party, the last time in 1941 when he served as an independent for the remainder of his term.

Sandra Bolton: has been the Independent member for Noosa in the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2017. Bolton was one of the original councillors when the Shire of Noosa was de-amalgamated in 2013.

John Bowler: a former Labor Minister who first won a seat in the WA upper house in 2001, serving until 2013. He became embroiled in controversy when the Corruption and Crime Commission alleged he leaked confidential information relating to Fortescue Metals Group to Julian Grill and Brian Burke. Despite calls from then Premier Alan Carpenter for his resignation, Bowler remained in Parliament as an independent and won the lower house seat of Kalgoorlie as an independent at the 2008 state election. He later became mayor of Kalgoorlie.

Russell Broadbent: the long term Liberal member for Monash/McMillan who lost preselection to Mary Aldred 161 votes to 16 and then immediately quit in November 2023 and served out his final term as an independent leading into the 2025 Federal election.

Jeremy Buckingham: served two terms on the City of Orange in regional NSW and then just pipped Pauline Hanson to win a NSW upper house seat for the Greens in 2011. Resigned from the Greens in 2018 and then won another term in 2019 as an independent.

Brian Burston: the former NSW One Nation senator resigned from One Nation in June 2018 to sit as an independent in the Senate, weeks after party leader Pauline Hanson sacked him as her deputy and accused her colleague of "stabbing her in the back". He was first elected in the 2016 double dissolution election and after a period as an independent, then finished his 3 year career in the Senate aligned with Clive Palmer's party.

Adele Carles: initially elected as a Greens WA member at the 2009 Fremantle state by-election, becoming the first Greens candidate to be elected to an Australian state lower house of parliament in a single-member seat. However, she resigned from the Greens on 6 May 2010 to sit as an independent after new broke of an affair with a Liberal MP. In November 2010, Carles agreed to guarantee confidence and supply votes for the incumbent Colin Barnett Liberal minority government. She ran for re-election as an independent at the 2013 state election, but was defeated, finishing fourth behind the Labor, Liberal and Greens candidates with 5.49% of the vote.

Kate Chaney: took Julie Bishop's old seat of Curtin as a teal in 2022.

Ralph Clark: a Labor member in the SA lower house from 1993 until 2002 representing the electorate of Ross Smith. He was deposed by factional infighting and then stood as independent in 2003 but fell just short. In 2006 he stood for the SA upper house but only achieved 0.1% of the vote.

Phil Cleary: a former VFA player and coach, who was elected as an independent to the lower house at the 1992 Wills by-election after Bob Hawke quit Parliament, becoming the only non-Labor member to have ever held the seat. The election however was deemed void as he was still employed by the Crown and the constitution forbids people, employed by the Crown, from standing for election.

Rodney Norman Culleton (born 5 June 1964) is an Australian politician who was sworn in and sat as a Senator for Western Australia following the 2016 federal election. At that time he was a member of the Pauline Hanson's One Nation party, but on 18 December 2016 he resigned from the party to sit as an independent.^[1]

Catherine Cumming: almost went full circle from being an independent on Maribyrnong council to getting elected on the Derryn Hinch ticket into the upper house in the 2018 Victorian election but immediately turned independent until end of her term in 2022. Was looking good to be re-elected to Maribyrnong council in 2024 but after leading on first preferences in Bluestone Ward, she ultimately lost to Pradeep Tiwari 55-45 after preferences.

Ali Cupper: the former Labor candidate won the Victorian seat of Mildura as an independent in 2018 but only served one term and was defeated in 2022 and now is once again back on Mildura council, serving as deputy mayor.

Liz Cunningham: represented the electorate of Gladstone in Queensland as an independent from 1995. Along with Peter Wellington, she briefly held the balance in power following the 1998 Queensland state election, but her political influence declined when Peter Beattie formed an ALP government.
Helen Dalton: independent member for Murray in the NSW lower house since 2019, who was comfortably re-elected in 2023.

Zoe Daniel: defeated incumbent Liberal Tim Wilson to take the Federal seat of Goldstein as a teal in 2022.

Susan Davies: the former school teacher joined the Labor Party in 1993, and was the Labor candidate for Gippsland West in the 1996 Victorian state election. When the incumbent Alan Brown resigned, she resigned from the Labor party and contested the by-election as independent which she subsequently won. She held her seat in 1999 election but soon after her seat was abolished.

Philip Donato: currently serving as the independent member for Orange in the NSW lower house. Donato was a police officer and prosecutor before entering politics, and was elected at a by-election for the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party following the resignation of National Party MP Andrew Gee. In December 2022, he resigned following a dispute with the party's leadership over comments concerning fellow member Helen Dalton. Was re-elected as an independent in 2023.

John D'Orazio: served on the Bayswater Council in WA from 1981 until 2001 and then served initially as the Labor member for Ballajura in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 10 February 2001 to 6 September 2008, but was mired in controversy and served out his term as an independent.

Dawn Fardell: was elected to Dubbo City Council in 1999 and served until 2005. Was the independent NSW state member for Dubbo in the Legislative Assembly from 2004 until 2011.

Paul Filing: a former Canberra flat mate of John Howard, in 1990 he was elected to the House of Representatives as the Liberal member for Moore. In 1995 he lost Liberal endorsement so he resigned from the party and stood as an independent, holding the seat at the 1996 election. In 1998 he was defeated and left politics.

Chris Foley: a former National Party candidate in Queensland who resigned over an unresolved dispute. He was elected at a 2003 by-election for the seat of Maryborough following the resignation due to ill health of another independent, former One Nation MP John Kingston. In 2006 he stood as an independent and romped to victory with nearly 70% of the primary vote, and again held the seat at the 2009 election.

Will Fowles: first elected as the Victorian Labor MP for Burwood in 2018, then shifted to the state seat of Ringwood in 2022 before being booted out of the party by Daniel Andrews over allegations about his treatment of a staffer, so now serving as an independent.

Alex Greenwich: succeeded Clover Moore as the independent member for Sydney in the NSW Parliament in 2012 and has comfortably held the seat ever since.

Diane Hadden: in 2005 she resigned from the Labor Party, which ended over 25 years membership of the Victorian ALP, and became the independent upper house member for Ballarat in Victoria. She was quoted as saying " I also want no part of a Labor government that seems obsessed with social engineering, the removal of individual liberties and rights... and has the potential to trample on the hard-earned rights and freedoms of ordinary Victorians."

Helen Haines: won the Federal seat of Indi in 2019 and retained it in 2022.

Kris Hanna: once a practicing lawyer, the former member for Mitchell in SA from 1997 until 2010. Originally he was elected as a Labor member, but he defected to the SA Greens in 2003 before becoming an independent in 2006.

Pauline Hanson: the former fish and chip shop owner, Liberal party member and One Nation leader began her move into parliament in 1996 following a stint as a councillor for the City of Ipswich. After being disendorsed by the Liberals after nominations had closed in 1996, she originally served as an independent before creating One Nation. Was elected to the Senate in 2016 and then re-elected in 2022.

Brian Harradine: he was the longest-serving independent federal politician in Australian history, representing Tasmania from 1975-2005. He was once secretary general of the Tasmanian Trades and Labour Council between 1964 and 1976 and a member of the Labor party but ended up expelled from the ALP by the Federal Executive. He contested the 1975 election which he won comfortably and held for 30 years.

Sam Hibbins: former Greens councillor at the City of Stonnington from 2012 until 2014 when he was elected to the Victorian Parliament after winning the seat of Prahran off the Liberals and has held it ever since. Resigned from the party in November 2024 to serve as an independent after an office affair became public but only stayed a further two months before resigning and causing a by-election in February 2025.

Ray Hopper: first elected in 2001 as an independent or Darling Downs in the Queensland lower house. He joined the National Party later that year and then the Liberal National Party in 2008 representing the district of Condamine.

Craig Ingram: the one-time abalone diver unexpectedly won the seat of Gippsland East in the 1999 Victorian state election. He along with Russell Savage and Susan Davies, held the balance of power in the lower house and would not support a minority government led by Jeff Kennett which led to the demise of Kennett's political career.

Bob Katter: he has served as a member of the house of representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Kennedy, Queensland. Until 2001 he represented the National Party of Australia, but left the party that year and continued to hold the seat as an independent.

John Kingston: was one of the first Queensland One Nation MPs to leave the party and contested the 2001 election as an Independent representing Maryborough, getting just enough National Party preferences to overhaul the Labor Party's lead on primary votes. He resigned from parliament early in 2003 due to ill health.

Mark Latham: the former Federal Labor leader returned to Parliament as an Alan Jones backed NSW upper house MP for One Nation in 2019 and then was re-elected in 2023 before resigning in August 2023 to serve out his term as an independent.

Dai Le: the former Liberal councillor and deputy mayor at City of Fairfield then took the Federal seat of Fowler from Federal Labor at the 2022 election when they tried to parachute in Kristina Keneally. Served 10 years at Fairfield where she was expelled as a Liberal member for running against an endorsed candidate.

Peter Lewis: first elected as a Liberal member of the South Australian lower house in 1979 and served until 2000 in electorates such as Hammond, Ridley, Murray-Mallee and Mallee. He built at reputation as a maverick by defying party authorities on many occasions which led to his expulsion from the Liberal Party in July 2000. From 2000 until 2006 he served as an independent which included a stint as Speaker when a propped up a minority Labor government led by Mike Rann.

Ted Mack: trained as an architect, he is the only person ever to have been elected and re-elected as an independent to local, state and federal governments. He won the federal seat of North Sydney in 1990, defeating incumbent Liberal MP John Spender, and remained until his retirement at the 1996 election.

Terry Martin: first elected to council in 1985, he became Mayor of the City of Glenorchy, Tasmania from 1990-2005, partially overlapping with his time in State Parliament. In 2004 he became the Labor Member for Elwick in the Tasmanian Legislative Council but retired in 2010 as an independent after significant health and legal issues.

Cathy McGowan: was a pioneering Federal independent who defeated unpopular Liberal Sophie Mirabella to win the Federal seat of Indi in 2013 and then handed over to fellow independent Helen Haines in 2019 after serving two terms.

Alex McTaggart: was Mayor of Pittwater Council and simultaneously an independent member of the NSW Legislative Assembly for Pittwater from 2005-2007, something which is no longer allowed in Queensland and was never allowed in Victoria.

Terry Metherell: represented the NSW state seat of Davidson from 981 to 1992. When the Liberal Party won the 1988 election, Premier Nick Greiner appointed him Minister for Education and Youth Affairs, a portfolio he held until 1990. In October 1991, he resigned from the Liberal party and remained in Parliament until his resignation to take up an offer of a public service job. This offer led to the downfall of Greiner, who was found to have corruptly offered the position to force a by-election in Metherell's district.

Tania Mihailuk: was appointed to the NSW Legislative Council in May 2023 following the resignation of former NSW One Nation leader Mark Latham. The former Bankstown Labor mayor was the last remaining member of the Pauline Hanson's party in the state and is now serving as an independent.

Clover Moore: First won the NSW state seat of Bligh in 1988 and then switched to the seat of Sydney in 2007. Was simultaneously elected Sydney Lord Mayor in 2004 but then left Parliament in 2012 after new legislation made her choose between the two roles. Re-elected Lord Mayor with a record majority in 2016 and still serving to this day.

Shayne Murphy: he was a Labor party member of the senate, representing Tasmania, from 1993 to 2005. He represented Labor until 2001, when he left the party and became an independent. In the 2001-04 parliament, Murphy shared the balance of power with senators Len Harris, Brian Harradine and Meg Lees, but was defeated at the 2004 election.

Shaun Nelson: was elected as MP of the One Nation Party at the 1998 Queensland state election, before resigning from the party to sit as an independent in February 1999. He served out the remainder of his term before being defeated by One Nation candidate Rosa Lee Long at the 2001 election.

Rob Oakeshott: the independent Member for the Division of Lyne, NSW, which he won in the 2008 by-election following the resignation of Mark Vaile. He was elected as the Nationals candidate for the state seat of Port Macquarie in the NSW in 1996, he left the party to become an independent in 2002.

David Oldfield: while working as a senior staffer for Liberal federal MP Tony Abbott, Oldfield secretly founded the One Nation Party with independent MP Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge. Oldfield won a seat in the NSW legislative council at the March 1999 state elections but was expelled from One Nation by Hanson in 2000 and founded the separate One Nation NSW party. In 2004 he left that party and sat as an Independent and in August 2006 he announced that he would not contest the March 2007 election.

Fatima Payman: elected as a Labor Senator for WA at the 2022 election as one of the few Muslims to have served in Parliament but then resigned over the Gaza issue in 2024 and served as an indepedent.

Dr Kerryn Phelps: was elected to City of Sydney in September 2016 as a member of the Clover Moore Independents Team, and was then appointed as Deputy Lord Mayor of the council. She resigned as Deputy in 26 2017 to serve an an independent. In 2018 she won the Federal seat of Wentworth in the by-election caused by Malcolm Turnbull's resignation but was defeated by Liberal Dave Sharma at the 2019 election.

Greg Piper: the independent councillor was first elected to Lake Macquarie council in 1991 and served as Deputy Mayor in 1999-2000. He was elected as the independent State Member for Lake Macquarie in 2007 after defeating Labor incumbent Jeff Hunter and served in Parliament with Rob Oakeshot until he resigned in 2009 to contest the Federal Seat of Lyne. Piper remains the independent state member for Lake Macquarie.

Dorothy Pratt: a former coffee shop proprietor, in 1998 she was elected to the Queensland lower house as the member for Barambah, representing Pauline Hanson's One Nation. She left One Nation in 1999 to sit as an independent. In 2001, her seat of Barambah was abolished and replaced with Nanango, which she won as an independent.

Gerard Rennick: elected as an LNP Senator for Queensland at the 2019 election but then served out his term as an independent after losing preselection in 2024.

Rod Roberts: the former policeman and real estate agent was first elected to the NSW upper house as a One Nation candidate in March 2019 and resigned in August 2023 to serve the balance of his 8 year term as an independent.

Monique Ryan: the Doctor who took Kooyong off Josh Frydenberg in 2022 in the great teal wave.

Russell Savage: a former police officer in London and Melbourne, he ran as an independent candidate for the seat of Mildura in the 1996 Victorian state election. He retained his seat at the 1999 election and eventually retired undefeated in 2006 after a 10 year run.

Sophie Scamps: an Australian independent politician, general practitioner, and former athlete. In the 2022 Australian federal election, she was elected as the Member for Mackellar in the teal wave, taking the seat from the Liberals.

Rebecca Sharkie: the former Liberal staffer was originally elected in 2016 as part of the Nick Xenophon Team winning Alexander Downer's old Federal SA seat of Mayo, where she continues to serve today having also spent time with Centre Alliance and as an independent.

Suzanna Sheed: the lawyer and former RACV director held the Victorian seat of Shepparton for two terms from 2014 until 2022.

Charles Smith: first elected to the WA Parliament as a One Nation upper house MP in 2019 then quit in September 2019 over "frustrations" with the party in particular in relation to WA One Nation leader Colin Tincknell.

Allegra Spender: took Malcolm Turnbull's old seat of Wentworth as a teal in 2022.

Bob Such: was first elected to SA parliament as a Liberal member in 1989. In 1996 he was relegated to the back bench by John Olsen and became disenfranchised. Since 2000 he has been the independent member for the seat of Fisher in the SA lower house until his death in 2014.

Kylea Tink: won the Federal seat of North Sydney as a teal in 2022.

Lydia Thorpe: first elected as Victorian Greens member for Northcote in a 2017 by-election but then defeated at the 2018 state election. Was later elected to the Senate as a Greens senator for Victoria in 2022 before later resigning and serving out her term as an independent.

Richard Torbay: was elected to Armidale City Council in 1991 and was a Councillor 1991-1998. He was the Deputy Mayor 1992-1993, and Mayor 1995-1998. He was an independent member of the NSW Legislative Assembly from 1999 until 2013, representing the Northern Tablelands.

Gareth Ward: originally elected as the NSW Liberal member for Kiama before being punted after sexual assault charges were laid and then was narrowly elected as an independent at the 2023 NSW state election, suffering a 10.7% swing against him.

Peter Wellington: a former police officer and solicitor who defeated the incumbent National Party candidate Neil Turner in the 1998 Queensland state election. He briefly held the balance in power following the 1998 election, and his decision to back the Labor Party led to Peter Beattie becoming premier. During a long career he eventually retired in 2017.

Andrew Wilkie: a famous defence whistleblower against the Iraq war, former army officer and former Green party member for 4 years, Wilkie stood as an independent for the federal seat of Denison in the 2010 federal election and won with a primary vote of just 21%. Wilkie then backed a minority Gillard government and has retained the seat ever since.

Tony Windsor: a former farmer and National party member, he was also the Member for Tamworth in NSW for ten years before resigning in September 2001, to contest the federal seat of New England, which he held as an independent in the house of representatives until retiring in 2013.

Nick Xenophon: the solicitor and anti-gambling campaigner was first elected to parliament in SA at 1997 state election. He then went successfully win a senate seat at 2007 federal election receiving nearly 15% of the vote, before later trying to re-enter the SA Parliament with his short-lived SA Best party. Failed in an attempt to return to the Senate at the 2022 Federal election.

Paul Zammit: a former NSW Liberal state politician, in 1996, he stepped down to contest the federal Division of Lowe which he won. In 1998 he resigned from the Liberal Party, and contested the seat as an independent, but he managed only 15% of the vote, losing to Labor's John Murphy.

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