Nick Xenophon has resigned from the Senate after his principal adviser, Rex Patrick, was chosen to replace him although Xenophon himself will stay on as the party’s federal leader in the short term.
In a statement on Tuesday the party announced its management committee had endorsed Xenophon’s replacement and that it has applied to the Australian Electoral Commission to be renamed SA Best (federal).
On Friday the high court ruled Xenophon was eligible to sit in the Senate, allowing the party to choose his replacement rather than the court order a recount of votes in the 2016 election which was likely to return its next candidate, Tim Storer.
Xenophon announced in early October he would quit the Senate to run for the seat of Hartley in the March 2018 South Australian election.
On Tuesday Xenophon resigned effective immediately in a letter to Senate president, Stephen Parry, in which he said it has been an “enormous honour and privilege” to serve South Australia in the Senate.
“I hope to be able to continue that service in a different forum in the near future,” he said.
Xenophon told Guardian Australia the SA Best federal party was “in transition, it’s evolving” and he would remain as federal leader in the short term to “maintain continuity and ensure a smooth transition”.
This arrangement would continue “as long as the rest of the team wants me to be [federal leader]”, Xenophon said, signalling further changes may occur after the March state election.
Xenophon said the NXT, which does not have formal party status federally, has always worked “in a collegiate and consensus manner”, which would continue while he attends party room meetings with his four federal colleagues.
Patrick was “clearly the best person for the job”, Xenophon said, citing his close work with him as best to ensure a “seamless transition”, Patrick’s experience as a submariner and interest in defence and manufacturing.
In December 2016 Patrick was identified by Fairfax Media as the source of a tipoff to the media about a major security breach at DCNS, the French company that won a $50bn contract to build Australia’s new submarines.
It is not suggested that Patrick leaked the 22,000 pages of classified submarine plans relating to DCNS’s submarine project for the Indian navy, but he reportedly brought the leak to the attention of the Australian.
It is anticipated that Patrick will be endorsed by a joint sitting of the South Australian parliament by mid November and commence representing South Australia in the Senate immediately after.
In an interview with Sky News, South Australian Liberal senator, Simon Birmingham, suggested Xenophon’s replacement had been chosen through the “mysterious workings” of the party in what amounted to a “backroom deal”.
Patrick was chosen by the management committee of the party which consists of Xenophon, MP Rebekha Sharkie, senators Skye Kakoschke-Moore and Stirling Griff, and secretary Connie Bonaros.
After Xenophon’s exit the SA Best federal parliamentarians will take the lead in negotiations with the government and other parties in their portfolios.
Sharkie said she was excited about Patrick’s appointment to the Senate vacancy, and he would be an “incredibly beneficial” to representation of South Australia because of his expertise in defence.
She said it “seems logical” for Xenophon to continue as leader of both the SA and federal party because of the overlap of issues in the SA campaign and federal work of the party, describing him as a “conduit” between the two.
Sharkie said Xenophon was right to say the arrangement is “a transition”, and suggested the party would “take it month by month”.
