Well, alright then. Nick Xenophon has announced that he intends to resign from the Senate and run for a seat in the South Australian state election.
He announced his decision via a video posted to social media:
Though in the video he says his reasoning is that South Australia is “often overlooked”, it’s pretty obvious what might be looming over his head right now. You might recall that he was one of the parliamentarians caught up in the constitutional debacle around citizenship – and he was due to have his case heard before the High Court next week.
Xenophon says that he actually planned to announce this move before the section 44 kerfuffle, clearly anticipating that people would immediately point out that particular issue.
He intends to run for the seat of Hartley, and says he’ll be in campaign mode from here on out. He’s a powerbroker due to his position in the Senate right now, so this is a pretty massive shakeup.
