Senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie. Photo / Getty Images
Senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie. Photo / Getty Images
Australians, do you abhor Sharia law, want the foreign aid budget halved and promise never to wear yellow? Then the country's newest political party, to be formed by Senator Jacqui Lambie, could be just for you.
The outspoken Tasmanian independent, who quit the Palmer United Party in a blaze ofpublicity late last year, has signalled her intention to found the Jacqui Lambie Network, to be catchily known as JLN.
The party, which, she says, will field Senate and Lower House candidates at the next federal election, is a response to the growing clamour across Australia for the Lambie brand, according to her spokesman yesterday.
Known for her headline-grabbing pronouncements, such as branding Prime Minister Tony Abbott a "political psychopath", Lambie reportedly receives hundreds of emails a day from supporters. She has nearly 24,000 "likes" on her Facebook page, while nearly 3000 people have "liked" a page calling for her to become Prime Minister.
JLN - which has taken the initial step towards registration, with Australian Electoral Commission advertisements appearing in Tasmanian newspapers yesterday - will initially focus on Lambie's home state.
However, her chief of staff, Rob Messenger, told the ABC she had been approached by people from other states who were interested in joining or becoming candidates.
In a statement, Lambie - a single mother, reformed alcoholic and former army corporal - said the party's core policies would include opposing "the formal or informal introduction of Sharia law in Australia" and a requirement for "undivided loyalty to the Australian constitution".
In the past, "Lambo" - as one paper has dubbed her - has declared that Sharia "obviously involves terrorism", and said "we can't ignore the threat of Communist China invasion".
Lambie split from PUP after a series of public rows with the party's founder, Clive Palmer, simultaneously also parting ways with PUP's trademark yellow, which she had always worn.
Her departure was followed by that of another PUP Senator, Glenn Lazarus, which left the Queensland mining tycoon and federal MP with just one Senate seat.
Other key planks of JLN's platform include a tax on financial transactions, the establishment of a national apprenticeship scheme, dedicated parliamentary seats for indigenous Australians and a "special interest" in serving military personnel, their families and veterans.
Earlier this month, Lambie forced the Government to give pay rises to armed forces members.
Her party would also want foreign aid to be drastically cut back, and Halal products to be clearly labelled.
In a statement yesterday, Lambie said: "In the near future, I will launch an online book, which contains the majority of my Parliamentary speeches to date. This will provide further detailed information on the policies that I will take to the Australian people." She urged prospective members to contact her through Facebook.
Yesterday's advertisements give people until the end of April to lodge objections to the proposed party.
