I'd like to think that good public policy should be driven not by a warm friendship between two prime ministers, but by strategic and economic considerations and practical and technical considerations.

Nick Xenophon

Nicholas "Nick" Xenophon is an independent Senator for South Australia and leader of the Nick Xenophon Team political party, which will run candidates at the next federal election. He was elected to the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election, receiving 14.8 percent statewide. At the 2013 federal election Xenophon received a record vote of 24.9 percent, coming second behind the Liberal Party of Australia and ahead of the Australian Labor Party. Xenophon shared the balance of power with the Australian Greens and Family First Party during the 2008–2011 Senate, with the Greens holding the balance of power from 2011-2014. Since July 2014, Xenophon shares the balance of power with a record 18-member crossbench, which includes the Greens, Palmer United Party, and other minority parties and independents. While his original 1997 platform centred on a policy of anti-gambling, he has since become an advocate in many other policy areas. This includes defence, education, health, infrastructure, regional affairs, foreign policy, and civil liberties.

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