Gerard Rennick is planning to register a new political party after quitting the Liberal National party.
The Queensland senator announced on Sunday that he was leaving the party to bring “bread and butter” issues into public debate in the lead-up to the next federal election, which is due by May 2025.
In a statement posted on social media on Monday morning Rennick said: “Yesterday I resigned from the LNP in order to run as an independent senator at the next federal election so I can continue to fight for the Australian people.
“In order to get my name above the line on the Senate ticket I will have to set up a party which I hope to call People First.”
He added a link to a new website for the party. At the time of writing it said a full website was “coming soon” but invited visitors to register for updates and to “express your interest to help Senator Gerard Rennick retain his Senate seat”.
after newsletter promotion
Rennick told the Sydney Morning Herald he was unsure of how long he would be in the Senate: “I’d rather use that time to talk about really important issues rather than just play tiddlywinks.”
The senator was kicked off the LNP’s federal election ticket in July 2023 and his attempts to appeal due to alleged “gross irregularities” with the process were rejected.
Rennick said he was keen to introduce inquiries on issues such as increasing the tax-free threshold to $40,000, addressing how childcare support is structured and looking at a public bank financed by quantitative easing.
“After learning how the Senate works I know a bit about how it works that we can get these inquiries up and going,” he told the Herald.
Rennick said his decision was not aimed at destabilising the federal Liberal leader, Peter Dutton.
