Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie quits PUP to become independent

Updated

The increasingly nasty spat between Jacqui Lambie and Clive Palmer has come to a head, with the Tasmanian senator announcing her resignation from the Palmer United Party (PUP).

Senator Lambie made the announcement in the Senate on Monday morning, bringing to an end weeks of speculation about her future with the party.

Her defection means the Palmer United Party no longer has enough votes, on its own, to block legislation.

Senator Lambie said she had sought legal advice, consulted "extensively" and decided to serve out her term in the Senate as an independent.

"I acknowledge that speculation about my membership of the Palmer United Party has caused uncertainty for the Tasmanian and Australian people," she said.

"I apologise for that uncertainty. My resignation today will end that damaging speculation and uncertainty.

Numbers in the Senate Coalition - 33

Labor - 25

Greens - 10

Palmer United Party - 2

Motoring Enthusiast Party - 1

Liberal Democratic Party - 1

Family First - 1

Independents - 3

"Being a member of Palmer United has prevented me from voting in this chamber in a way that gives my Tasmania the best chance of recovering and once again becoming prosperous."

Senator Lambie has not spoken to Mr Palmer, but said he was aware of her resignation before she announced it.

Tensions within the party have been rising for some time, with Mr Palmer labelling Senator Lambie a "drama queen" and a "liar" and even suggesting she had "infiltrated" his fledgling political party in order to "blow it up".

Mr Palmer has also accused Senator Lambie of creating conflict to serve her own interests.

"Being in Parliament should be about public service, not serving ourselves or gaining notoriety," he told Fairfax radio following this morning's announcement.

"It's about doing what's best for the community and Jacqui's already said that her main interest is in a guy with a big package and a lot of money," he said, referring to a previous interview Senator Lambie had given on commercial radio in Tasmania.

Senator Lambie has indicated she will not respond to the comments, instead wishing Mr Palmer and his family all the best.

"I don't have the time or energy to be drawn into a political mudslinging contest, I will not be drawn into the game of responding to hurtful and false personal attacks," she told the Senate.

"Mr Palmer has been blessed with great wealth and power by God ... he has a wonderful opportunity to use that great wealth and power to do a lot of good for many Australians."

The split will reduce Mr Palmer's power in the Senate.

His party now controls just two of the eight crossbench votes, although he insists his alliance with Motoring Enthusiast Party Senator Ricky Muir is still intact.

"We still remain the biggest bloc in the Senate with two senators and everyone else being independent," he said.

"There's nothing much changed really, Jacqui's just one senator."

Lambie still after better pay deal for Defence staff

Earlier this month, Senator Lambie lashed out at the latest pay deal for Defence personnel and vowed to oppose all Government legislation in the Senate unless the Coalition reversed it.

Senator Lambie has made good on that threat, breaking ranks with her party to vote against the Government's revised social services bill and to disallow its changes to the Future of Financial Advice (FOFA) laws.

But today, Senator Lambie appeared to use her speech to offer a compromise.

"I also take this opportunity to plead with the PM to reconsider his unfair pay offer to the men and women of Australia's Defence Force," she said.

"He has made a terrible mistake which fundamentally undermined Australia's national security.

"However, if Mr Abbott admits his mistake, apologises and allocates the extra $121 million to raise the ADF pay offer by 1.5 per cent, as well as returning Christmas leave and travel entitlements, then I feel sure the Australian people will forgive him and he will be viewed as a better leader."

Senator Lambie has already outlined her voting intentions as a newly independent crossbencher.

"I am now free to negotiate with the Government and other members of this Parliament in good faith and for the best interests of Tasmania for reform of the following matters; the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Renewable Energy Target, and unfair cost of transporting passengers, freight and goods across Bass Strait," she said.

"I can give a 100 per cent guarantee to all Australians that I will never vote for the Government's changes to higher education and Medicare co-payments."

Just a few hours after quitting the PUP, Senator Lambie met with Environment Minister Greg Hunt.

"I just needed to know a few things about the bumble bees, and what he was going to do about the bumble bee issue I have down in Tasmania," she told 7.30.

"I wanted to go back and speak to him about that, which I've done, and we just went over some of the RET [Renewable Energy Target] which is expected to come up in the future."

The Tasmanian senator also refuted suggestions it would be unfair for her to remain in the Upper House, despite campaigning and being elected as a member of the PUP.

"Most people knew who Jacqui Lambie was before she joined Palmer United, I mean, I'd been out there for a couple of years campaigning as an independent as it was," she said.

"So I'm certainly not going to let that come into the argument whatsoever, or come into the equation. I'm just going to get on with the job."

The Government's Senate Leader Eric Abetz is ultimately responsible for getting the Coalition's agenda through the Upper House.

"As far as I'm concerned, it is business as usual," he said.

"We will deal professionally with each and every individual crossbench senator as they request and I said at the very beginning, when we knew the make-up of the new Senate, if they wanted to be dealt with as individuals we would, if they want it to be dealt with in a grouping we would accommodate that request.

"Now we have a situation where one person from one of the groupings has determined that she will remove herself from that grouping, that's fine, we will accommodate that situation and our now brief her separately."

Topics: federal-parliament, parliament, government-and-politics, tas, australia

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