INDEPENDENT Senator Steve Fielding has single-handedly become a lightning rod for the sexy issue of reforming the electoral system.
Fielding, along with the Coalition and Nick Xenophon, has now stymied the Government on a number of fronts including changes to the Medicare levy surcharge, the emissions trading scheme and is threatening to derail plans to overhaul the building and construction industry.
But it is Fielding who particularly rankles the Government because his presence in the Senate is partly the Government’s own fault.
Each time he votes against the Government, Fielding is a reminder of how you can be a bit too tricky for your own good.
Think back to 2004 and the desperation of the Labor Party as it tried to beat the seemingly invincible Howard government.
Labor lost, but its machinations over preferences lumped the party with Fielding when it did eventually come to office three years later.
Why? Because Labor gave preferences to the Victorian ahead of anyone else, as did the Coalition. They did this because sections of the Labor Party were deeply suspicious of the Greens and thought the Greens would be more problematic than Fielding.
Fielding won the sixth Senate spot in Victoria with about 55,000 votes. The Greens lost despite getting 260,000 votes.
