The Rise of Independent Politicians and What It Means for Australia

Last year, the voters of Wentworth came together to decide on a replacement for ex-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to represent their areas of interest in the Lower House of Federal Parliament.

Wentworth, for many years, was a safe Liberal seat. However, now the Libs have lost the seat. The seat was not lost to Liberal candidate Dave Sharma’s Labor counterpart. It was lost to independent candidate Dr Kerryn Phelps.

Dr Phelps stands for the centre, a space on the political spectrum that is really not well represented in Australia at the moment. Socially and environmentally, she leans towards the left; economically, she leans towards the right. Her progressive politics combined with her fiscal conservatism is what won the hearts of many in her electorate.

It also didn’t help that the Coalition so incompetently mishandled Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership in the most recent leadership spill. Coalition politicians risked their majority government, and possibly their chance at this year’s election, for the chance at having a new Prime Minister, who was even further removed from the politically unrepresented centre. In this way, Dr Phelps appointment was a protest vote.

The voters are losing faith in the two major political parties. The last time a…