Nick Xenophon (né Nicholas Xenophou; born 29 January 1959) is an Australian politician and lawyer who was a Senator for South Australia from 2008 to 2017.

Additionally, Xenophon was pivotal in the obstruction of the Abbott government's 2014 austerity budget, the plan to build next generation submarines overseas, and the Pyne higher education reforms.

At the end of his eighteen-month term, Xenophon wrote as a whistleblower in On Dit that the Young Liberals had rigged the vote in order to secure the unlikely victory of their editing team.

[4] In 2015, the publishers of former Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard's 2014 memoir, My Story, retracted an allegation that Xenophon had been "infamously excluded from university for a period as punishment for stuffing a ballot box full of voting papers he had somehow procured".

[15][16] In 2012, Xenophon co-sponsored a bill with Victorian Senator John Madigan to restrict federal government subsidies for wind farms.

Xenophon's concerns about wind turbines were predominantly related to anecdotal evidence of health problems and the reliability of wind-sourced power.

[17] In 2015, Xenophon appealed in person to Indonesia's largest Islamic body to support a reprieve for two Australian convicted drug smugglers sentenced to death in Bali.

[4] Following the 1997 election, the Olsen Liberal government needed the support of an additional two non-Liberal upper house members in order to pass legislation, with the Australian Democrats retaining the balance of power on three seats.

[citation needed] Xenophon was an activist for a range of issues apart from the elimination of poker machines, speaking out on consumer rights, essential services, the environment, taxation, and perks for politicians.

[27] At the 2006 state election, he ran an aggressive campaign and attracted considerable publicity through a range of imaginative stunts, including riding a model locomotive "gravy train" outside Parliament House to protest MPs' superannuation entitlements, parading along Rundle Mall wearing a sandwich board to advertise his campaign, and bringing a small goat to Parliament urging voters not to "kid around" with their vote.

[28][29] Despite media speculation that he would struggle to be re-elected due to the major parties preferencing against him, he attracted sufficient funding and volunteers to staff most state booths on polling day.

[citation needed] On 11 October 2007, Xenophon called a press conference at the Adelaide Zoo in front of the giraffe enclosure, declaring he would "stick his neck out for South Australia" by announcing his resignation from the South Australian Legislative Council in an attempt to gain election to the Australian Senate at the 2007 federal election.

[42] During the joint sitting convened to confirm the nomination, Ann Bressington criticised Xenophon, questioning his integrity and suitability for federal parliament, suggesting that his "anti-politician" image was more spin than reality.

Xenophon said in response that he was "shocked and hurt" and "deeply upset" that she had failed to share her concerns with him in person, saying "privately and publicly, I have been very supportive of her.

[50][51] In November 2009, Xenophon labelled the Church of Scientology as a criminal organisation, alleging members had experienced blackmail, torture and violence, labour camps and forced imprisonment, and coerced abortions.

[52][53][54] On 7 September 2010, a Senate committee recommended that a charities commission be formed with the purpose of investigating and monitoring transparency of charitable organisations.

He also accused Monsignor David Cappo and Philip Wilson, the Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide, of failing to properly investigate the allegations in 2007.

[68][69] In May 2012, Xenophon – a vocal supporter of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim – visited Malaysia to independently observe anti-government protests.

[76] During the 2013 federal election, Xenophon nominated four key policy issues; gaming machine reforms, stopping palm oil from being sold in Australia, breaking up the supermarket duopoly, and better deals for Riverland irrigators in the Murray-Darling basin rescue plan.

[78] Group voting tickets came under scrutiny because multiple candidates were provisionally elected with the vast majority of their 14.3 percent quotas coming from the preferences of other parties across the political spectrum.

[79][80][81] After returning to a balance of power position in the Senate, Xenophon focused on defence (particularly the Collins-class submarine replacement project)[82] and cuts made by the Abbott government in the 2014 Australian federal budget.

[83] In October 2014, Xenophon supported the Abbott government's Direct Action plan for combatting Climate Change, enabling it to pass the Senate.

[89] In March 2015, Xenophon independently travelled to Indonesia with an Adelaide sheikh to unconvincingly seek clemency for the Bali Nine duo who were on death row.

[93] Other crossbench senators, including John Madigan and David Leyonhjelm, whose re-election prospects would be bleak under the new voting arrangements, accused Xenophon of "political trickery of the highest order".

[94][95] During the 2016 federal election campaign, Xenophon was the subject of attacks from both major political parties,[96] including his failure to declare a directorship of Adelaide Tower Pty Ltd, which involved his father.

[98] In August 2016, Xenophon and NXT colleagues opposed the proposed same-sex marriage plebiscite on the basis that it was not binding and a waste of public resources.

[2]: para 135 In September 2017, the Turnbull government with the support of Nick Xenophon (by a vote of 31–27), was able to pass changes to media legislation including the repealing of the "two-out-of-three" rule (which allowed a company to own a TV station, newspaper and radio station in a single market) and the "reach rule" (which prevented a single TV broadcaster from reaching more than seventy-five per cent of the population).

[122] In 2017, former staffer Jenny Low claimed, in response to an article appearing in The Australian, that she had been in a seven-year secret relationship with Xenophon that was psychologically abusive, "destructive" and detrimental to her career.