Former Greens Senator Dorinda Cox’s decision to abandon the party which elected her in 2021, and join Labor, has infuriated Greens supporters but delighted Anthony Albanese, who now has one less stroppy cross-bencher to convince of his government’s agenda.
The head-scratching aspect is that Senator Cox is a Yamatji Noongar woman from Western Australia, the state where federal and state Labor are currently laying down the red carpet for Woodside Energy so they can permanently damage both the world’s climate and the local ancient rock art.
Just days before her defection, Senator Cox said of Woodside’s North West Shelf expansion: ‘The UNESCO World Heritage Committee draft decision should have been enough for [Environment Minister] Murray Watt to reconsider the impacts of this gas project on the WA Burrup Peninsula…
‘Days after the Juukan Gorge anniversary, the protection of sacred sites and places is a raw and chilling reminder for First Nations people of the lack of protection for our cultural heritage rights. 65,000 years of history, culture and connection is alive and well, especially in places like the Pilbara.’
As one of eleven Greens senators, Cox was in a strong position to hold the Albanese government to account and protect country from further environmental crimes. Now she’s just another number on the already overwhelming Labor bench which supports this kind of thing.
Senator Cox’s surprising post-election decision appears to have been motivated by her disappointment at not being offered the Greens deputy’s position, along with a number of issues at her office, which will now likely be swept under the carpet. Last year, she issued a public apology to staff for ‘distress’, following bullying accusations.
Regardless of party affiliation, she holds her Senate seat until at least 2028, having replaced environmental stalwart Rachel Siewert, who’s no doubt appalled by all this.
For her part, Senator Cox says she switched parties because she lost confidence in the Greens, and that her values better align with those of the government. She gave party leader Larissa Waters just ninety minutes notice that she was jumping ship, before going to the media.
Labor hypocrisy
When another West Australian, Fatima Payman, quit the ALP over its stance on Gaza, Albo’s reaction was that she should resign immediately, apparently regarding her as a traitorous nonentity who was elevated to the Senate only via her association with Labor.
There were no similar words this time from the prime minister as he welcomed Senator Cox to her new party, saying, ‘The reason why Dorinda has made this decision is the same reason why all those years ago as a very young man I made the decision to join the Labor party… to be part of a party of government.’
Dorinda Cox joins a long line of politicians who have switched sides and decided to join their enemies rather than attempt to beat them.
Won over by the charms of Gareth Evans, the Democrats’ former leader Cheryl Kernot went over to Labor. Lidia Thorpe left the Greens to become an independent. Jacqui Lambie and Glenn ‘The Brick With Eyes’ Lazarus quit Clive Palmer’s cause after using his money to get into parliament.
Mark Latham went from leading Labor federally to joining the Christian Democrats, then Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, then finally becoming an independent, gathering new enemies at every stage as it became increasingly clear he was representing only himself.
King Rat
If party-switching was an Olympic sport, the gold medallist of all time would have to be Billy Hughes. The seventh prime minister of Australia changed parties no less than eight times during his long career, ultimately bowing out as a Liberal.
At a birthday celebration for Billy Hughes in 1952, Prime Minister Robert Menzies noted that the guest of honour had been a member of pretty much every political party at some point in time.
Arthur Fadden interjected and said he’d never joined the Country Party. Hughes responded, ‘I had to draw the line somewhere, didn’t I?’
In 2025 and for the next few years, one extra Labor senator won’t change the government’s ability to pass legislation. They still need the support of either the Greens or the Coalition.
It does mean that the Greens will require the support of at least one crossbencher if they team up with the Coalition to block a bill, making the voices of people like David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Lidia Thorpe more significant.
Senator Cox could have put herself in a greater position of deal-making power – at least in the short term – if she had chosen to become an independent herself, but perhaps she is more interested in getting re-elected?
Originally from Canberra, David Lowe is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and photographer with particular interests in the environment and politics. He’s known for his campaigning work with Cloudcatcher Media.
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