Bryan Lambert’s attempt to win a seat in the Senate has fallen short, with the Tuncurry man not securing enough first preference votes to gain a position in the upper house.
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Mr Lambert, whose varied career included work as a policeman and accountant, said election results meant “true tax reform is not going to happen”.
“We are going to have an economy, going on the way it is at the moment, that has one of the greatest, unfair tax systems in the world,” he said.
Mr Lambert said Senate results indicated a public misunderstanding of the role of the upper house, and questioned whether certain representatives would be able to effectively analyse legislation.
So we’ve got racist people now in the Senate
- Bryan Lambert, former Senate candidate.
“I don’t think people realised or understood what the Senate is about,” he said.
“So we’ve got racist people now in the Senate.”
“It’s (racism) isolating and further alienating people.”
Mr Lambert said other key issues he would have pressed – such as dealing with a prison population that he said is due to double by 2024, and water resource infrastructure development - would likely go unaddressed.
Mr Lambert, a former cancer patient himself, also voiced his concern over proposed diagnostic cuts to Medicare.
“People just won’t be able to afford it,” he said.
“It’s going to kill people.”
With about 90 per cent of Senate votes counted as of June 20, Mr Lambert had secured 100 first preference votes – making him the sixth most voted for independent in NSW.
Mr Lambert said that the current Senate voting system was “grossly unfair” and stacked the odds against ungrouped (independent) candidates.
“I guess that’s why we haven’t had a local in the Senate before,” he said.
Mr Lambert said he is not sure if he will again attempt to enter politics, but said he has been buoyed by post-election messages of support.
“There’s a lot of people supporting that I should, but I’m not sure if I should just walk away,” he said.
“I’ll give it some time and then I’ll review my position.”