Nick Xenophon

Nicholas (Nick) Xenophon (born Nicholas Xenophou on 29 January 1959) is a South Australian barrister, anti-gambling campaigner and politician. He attended Prince Alfred College, and studied law at the University of Adelaide, attaining his Bachelor of Laws in 1981. Xenophon established and became principal of his own law firm, Xenophon & Co. in 1984. Between 1994 and 1997 he served as president of the South Australian branch of the Australian Plaintiff Lawyers' Association.

No Pokies, the name of his independent ticket in the South Australian Legislative Council, garnered 2.9 percent of the statewide vote at the 1997 state election electing himself on preferences, and 20.5 percent at the 2006 election (or 2.5 quotas), which was unexpected by political commentators. He was elected to the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election, again from the same pool of voters in South Australia, however he only received 14.8 percent. This was still over one full Senate quota, gaining election without the need for preferences. With current numbers in the Senate, Xenophon is one of the balance of power Senators. Whilst his original 1997 platform was No Pokies, he since has been an advocate in many other areas.

In Australia there are not limits on what you can believe but there are limits on how you can behave. It's called the law, and no one is above it.
- From 2009 November 17 speech on Scientology in Australia Senate, cited in Bita, Natasha (November 20, 2009). "Science or fiction?". The Australian. Retrieved on 2009-11-20.

Do you want Australian tax exemptions to be supporting an organisation that coerces its followers into having abortions? Do you want to be supporting an organisation that defrauds, that blackmails, that falsely imprisons? Because on the balance of evidence provided by victims of Scientology you probably are.
- From 2009 November 17 speech on Scientology in Australia Senate, cited in "Scientology a 'criminal organisation'". ABC News. 18 November 2009. Retrieved on 2009-11-18.

I don't know if I am a very good politician … I'm not a good hater.
- Walker, Jamie (June 28, 2008). "From brash Young Liberal to Senate linchpin for Nick Xenophon". The Australian. Retrieved on 2009-11-18.

I regularly see constituents, speak to people who feel let down by the justice system quite fundamentally, and these are people who don't make the headlines. These are people who have felt that their sense their grief, their sense of injustice has been compounded by a system that just doesn't work, that just doesn't listen to victims, that effectively disempowers them all too often.
- "Legal eagles discuss justice system". Stateline (ABC). 13 May 2005. Retrieved on 2009-11-17.