Whip it good: ‘Devo' Bandt exits, but who will be the new Lord or Lady of the Crossbench?
We're talking about the semi-official role of crossbench whip, or the MP responsible for ensuring their crossbench colleagues all get their voices heard during the chaos of question time.
In the past, this task fell to former Greens leader Adam Bandt, or rather, his office. And when the crossbench swelled to a record 16 MPs after the 2022 election, it took on an outsized role, particularly after Labor's leader of the house, Tony Burke, increased the amount of airtime crossbenchers got in question time.
It made sense for Bandt to take on the role since, as leader of a designated political party, he had more staff. Unlike the teal independents, who were livid after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese slashed their staffing allocations after the 2022 election in a manner that made Scott Morrison seem like Santa.
But then Bandt suffered a shock, losing his seat of Melbourne to Labor's Sarah Witty on what was a forgettable night for the Greens.
So who will take on Bandt's old role as king (or queen) of the crossbench? Nationals leader David Littleproud's decision to come crawling back to the Coalition makes things a lot easier. And while Bob Katter, famed for his Homeric approach to question time, would be the most entertaining choice, we're not sure anyone else would ever get a word in edgeways.
There's been some suggestion out of the teal universe that one of the posse who now occupy the Liberal Party's old leafy turf could step up, with Warringah MP Zali Steggall touted as a possibility. She's been around a bit longer, and has a sharp grasp of parliamentary procedure. But CBD understands that Steggall is yet to decide whether she wants to take on the role.
Separately, there's been persistent chatter that some members of the teal movement would like to form a separate political party – perhaps headed up by Steggall – which would solve the staffing question, if anything.
'The notion of party has been thrown around but hasn't got beyond first base,' a teal source said.
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