Pocock rules out prime minister bid and stays in the Senate
Independent ACT senator and former rugby star David Pocock used his first National Press Club speech on October 21 to say he was not launching a bid for prime minister. He proposed a 25% tax on gas exports, a 5% levy on datacentres and transparency reforms for lobbyists, secret meetings with politicians and vested interests. He also advanced a longer-term alliance of independents and community political groups for the next election.
The Guardian’s Josh Butler described Pocock as six foot tall and full of muscle. The account referred to Pocock as a former rugby star and framed the two-party system as his toughest opponent yet. Pocock said he was already thinking about life after politics, admitting “you can’t do this for ever.” He said, “I want to be part of building a political system that actually delivers for Australians, no matter who is prime minister.”
When he told the audience “don’t get ahead of yourselves with ‘Pocock launches bid for PM’ headlines,” the line drew the room’s second-biggest laugh. The biggest laugh came after he added, “My ambition is much bigger than that.” Pocock said: “I see an opportunity at the next election for a new kind of community political collective … I want to use what I’ve learned over the past four-and-a-half years to help.”
Pocock said he wanted to “build” something alongside communities that were already organising. He proposed an alliance of independents and collectives such as the Community Strong movement, headlined by Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender. The Guardian described the proposed “coalition” as light on detail.
Pocock called for independent tilts in the ACT electorates of Bean, Canberra and Fenner, where The Guardian said his local campaign infrastructure could make a difference. He also raised the seats of Fisher and Grayndler, with Grayndler being Anthony Albanese’s seat. “I believe a model of smaller, community interest parties and independents working together in an alliance can succeed here and build the kind of future we want,” Pocock said.
Among the staff and allies present were ACT politician Thomas Emerson, Pocock’s former staffer and lookalike, and Cheek Media founder and Grayndler independent candidate Hannah Ferguson. The Guardian noted that Greens leader David Shoebridge has said he wants his party to replace Labor. The Guardian added that a Pocock-backed independent in Ferguson, replacing the prime minister in his own seat, would be “a whole new level.”
Pocock called for three key policy reforms: a 25% tax on gas exports, which he said could fund anything from boosting welfare to health reforms and aged care; a 5% levy on datacentres to capture more benefits from the AI boom; and transparency reforms to shine a light on lobbyists, secret meetings with politicians and vested interests.
Pocock said two months of gas-tax revenue would pay for 100,000 home support packages, while three hours would pay for prosthetic eyes and noses for cancer victims. He recounted a woman sitting sobbing in his office, saying the jobseeker allowance had left her so destitute that she ate dog food because she had not eaten meat in so long.
“A 25% gas export tax could help change that, allowing us to have a social security system that keeps people above the poverty line,” Pocock said. The Guardian said all politicians have these stories, even if not all of them talk about them with such emotion. It described politics as “a series of choices and priorities” and said that, presented by Pocock in this way, “the choice not to fund welfare boosts or aged care or cancer care is hard to justify.”
When asked about calls for budget discipline and cutting spending, Pocock replied, “You can make cuts, or you can grow revenue.” He added, “I don’t understand why we’re slugging everyday Aussies and yet we’re happy to export gas for free.”
Pocock called for “a higher calibre of politics” after the alleged attack on independent Indi MP Helen Haines. He called Parliament’s question time a “disgrace” and urged a “better standard” among colleagues “to take some of the edge off it.” Speaking directly to Haines, he said Parliament must “meet this [alleged] attack on you by doubling down on the values you represent.” He listed transparency, accountability and kindness.
Despite having only one vote in parliament and no longer holding the Senate balance of power, The Guardian described Pocock as “extraordinarily successful” in drawing attention to his key issues. It said Labor members were not his biggest fans but that he had “moulded the gas tax narrative” to the point where government MPs’ social media feeds were “flooded with comments demanding change.” The Guardian assessed: “Bending the national conversation around a complicated resources tax, to the point where the actual prime minister has to wade through swathes of comments from political normies on every post, shows some level of leadership.”
Josh Butler is a Guardian Australia political reporter and chief of staff in Canberra. The Guardian said where the proposed coalition ended up, and whether it got off the ground, would be seen in coming months and years. Pocock said he was staying in the Senate, not switching to the lower house. The Guardian concluded: “Just don’t expect to see Pocock – rugby star, conservationist, senator, father – add prime minister to his CV anytime soon.”