Independent Senator Rex Patrick today reaffirmed his plans to run for a South Australian Senate seat at the forthcoming Federal election.
“In February I committed myself to run for a Senate seat at the Federal election in May,” Senator Patrick said. “Today I reaffirm that decision.”
“Nick Xenophon’s decision to throw his hat into the SA Senate contest has changed the political landscape. I have worked with Nick and I have a keen awareness of his political abilities.”
“That said, I’m not going to change my plans.”
“I’ve been serving as a strong, independent representative for South Australia four and a half years, and I’m determined to continue to represent SA in Canberra to the best of my ability.”
“I have been urged to run for the Federal seat of Grey, and as a Whyalla boy I felt obliged to give that possibility consideration. But I’m no will-o’-the-wisp, looking for any available political berth. Parliamentarians should stay the course once they have made a commitment and I’ve committed myself to run for the Senate.”
“All too often our political process is focussed on theatrics and public relations. I’m cut from a different cloth. I come from a practical engineering background. I deal in facts and real outcomes for people and that focus has been at the heart of my work as a Senator.”
“It’s one thing to express disgust at the current state of Australia’s political system, that’s the easy part; but it’s another to be committed to do the hard yards to make real improvements to rebuild accountability, fight for justice and enhance transparency.”
“In my time as a Senator I have secured funding for key South Australian projects including the Cape Hardy development in the Eyre Peninsula and the Adelaide University’s Australian Institute of Machine Learning, as well as helped many South Australians fight dodgy robodebt claims and exposed the Prime Minister’s ‘National Cabinet’ as a fraudulent Cabinet with no legal standing.”
“Having kicked in the door on the issue of fuel price relief, I’m pleased to see that the Government is responding to my campaign for the Federal fuel excise to be greatly reduced. I’ll be very interested to see later today whether they deliver the full measure of relief that is needed, and cut the petrol tax by half.”
“In a second term as a Senator, I’ll continue to build upon the old Australian Democrats maxim of working to ‘keep the bastards honest’.”
“I’ll be relentlessly championing the establishment of a Federal anti-corruption commission with real teeth, to expose government wrongdoing, policy failures, along with corrupt and unethical behaviour.”
“I want to see a Federal ICAC take a deep dive into our national political life and the secret inner workings of government, warts and all, so that we can scrape off the barnacles of resistance to meaningful change.”
“I will continue to use every tool available to me – Committee inquiries, subpoenas to produce documents, Freedom of Information campaigns and legal action to expose things that Governments and big political parties don’t want the public to see.”
“Campaigning for integrity and transparency in government and politics isn’t a matter of catchy slogans and sound bites; it requires hard work, persistence and absolute determination to keep going when others give up or are distracted by the latest headline or social media post.”
“We need independents in the Senate who will stand up for key democratic principles and ethical standards, not see everything as negotiable, but you always have to be absolutely sure that you will never trade away your principles or the vital interests of the constituents you represent.”
“Pressing hard for integrity, accountability and transparency is also essential for defending SA’s interests which are all too often short-changed by the dominance of east coast interests in our national parliament.”
“If elected I would obviously be committed to serve a full term, doing my best to holding the Federal government, whoever that may be, to account for their promises, commitments and performance.”
“SA needs Senate representatives who are independent with ambition and energy; not tired party drones, nor those who see politics as a career in itself. We need substance and ethics much more than public relations spin and theatrical performance.”
“The sixth SA Senate seat is up for grabs and will be decided on preferences. South Australians deserve to have the option to vote for a candidate determined and able to do the hard yards to help fix our broken political system.”
“I’ll be staying the course. I’ll be running for a SA Senate seat to continue to fight for our great state.”
