An "independent" is standing for election

in our federal seat at this election.

The only problem is that this person is not an "independent" at all. She is aligned with the current opposition. Her candidature is intended to ensure that the opposition's candidate will win. There is an outside chance of course that she herself will win. If she does she will vote with the current opposition. All the polls currently suggest that they will win the upcoming federal election.

We had a similar issue with the state election which has just occurred. Another candidate did something very similar.

I have no issue with genuine independents. There have been a few over the years. There was an outstandingly good state MP. He was a genuine independent. He sought the views of his electorate on controversial issues and voted accordingly.  He voted with the government of the day on other issues - having informed his electorate that this is what he would do if they voted for him. He was popular with many on both sides of politics. 

There was an independent Senator who represented another state for around twenty-five years. He did not get voted out. He retired. He was a fierce advocate for his state and actually did do the job that Senators were originally expected to do. (Senators were originally intended to represent the interests of the state they come from. Now they are much more likely to represent the party with which they are aligned.) 

I would very much like to see more people like this in parliament. Of course it is very, very hard work. You don't have the support of a party behind you. Getting elected and then re-elected is even harder. Even if you have a strong local support base it is hard.

There are other "independents" of course. Some of them have left the party to which they belonged. We had a local MP who did that. He went "independent".  He claimed it was to "provide stability". In reality it was because he was offered a ministerial post. His defection not only meant he went against the wishes of the electorate but the state as a whole. Such people are not "independent". 

And there are those who put themselves forward saying they are "independent" but whose candidature is intended to manipulate the system of compulsory preferential voting. In order to have our votes count as valid we must preference these people even when we object to everything for which they stand. Even putting them last on the ballot paper doesn't help much. Preferences will still flow.

The current "independent" candidate is already sending out more electoral material than any truly independent candidate could afford. She has a party machine behind her but it is hidden from view and it is not the "independent" group it claims to be.