page_title: Nick Xenophon
section_title: Second term (2014–2016)
hierarchical_section_title: Nick Xenophon / Political career, 1997–2018 / Australian Senate (2008–2017) / Second term (2014–2016)
caption_attribution_description: English: Senator Nick Xenophon with Bernard Collaery and Nicholas Cowdery QC in 2015 calling for a royal commission into the Australia–East Timor spying scandal.
context_page_description: Nicholas Xenophon is an Australian politician who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017. He was the leader of two political parties: Nick Xenophon Team federally, and Nick Xenophon's SA-BEST in South Australia. In October 2017, Xenophon resigned from the Australian Senate to contest a seat in the House of Assembly at the 2018 South Australian state election. From 1997 to 2007, he was a member of the South Australian Legislative Council, serving as an independent on a No Pokies policy platform. When the Nick Xenophon Team changed its name to Centre Alliance, Xenophon himself ceased to be directly involved with the party.
  Xenophon initially focused on his central anti-gambling policy, but also embraced other issues in federal parliament such as civil liberties, defence, education, foreign policy, health, infrastructure, manufacturing, national security, and regional affairs.
context_section_description: After returning to a balance of power position in the Senate, Xenophon focused on defence materiel, particularly the Collins-class submarine replacement project, and cuts made by the Abbott Government in the 2014 Australian federal budget.
  In October 2014, Xenophon supported the Abbott Government's Direct Action plan for combatting Climate Change, enabling it to pass the Senate. However, he later stated that the plan had been "neutered" because of changes made to it via regulation.
  In December 2014, Xenophon voted against the tertiary education reforms proposed by Minister for Education and Training Christopher Pyne which would have seen a shift towards privatisation of universities in Australia.
  In March 2015, Xenophon opposed the amendments to the national security legislative framework, particularly on the issue of telecommunications data retention. In his 2014 "spycatcher" speech to the Senate, Xenophon stated that the new laws would have a chilling effect on investigative journalism in Australia. Xenophon negotiated with then Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Scott Morrison for the reintroduction of the Temporary Protection Visa.
  In March 2015, Xenophon independently travelled to Indonesia with an Adelaide sheikh to unconvincingly seek clemency for the Bali Nine duo who were on death row.
  In November 2015, Xenophon joined calls for a royal commission into the Australia-East Timor spying scandal.
  In February 2016, Xenophon joined with the Australian Greens and the Government to support a reform of the Senate election system. Other crossbench senators, including John Madigan and David Leyonhjelm, whose re-election prospects would be bleak under the new voting arrangements, accused Xenophon of "political trickery of the highest order".
caption: Xenophon calling for a Royal Commission into the Australia-East Timor spying scandal in November 2015.
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