[2] In May 2017, Broadbent announced he would be resigning from the speaker's panel and his committee chairmanship to protest against the Turnbull government's inaction on aged care.

He stated that ministers Greg Hunt and Ken Wyatt had misled him over the construction of a facility at Bunyip, within his electorate.

[9][10] During the Howard government, he came to national prominence after siding with Liberal dissident Petro Georgiou in advocating better treatment of detainees.

In 2017 he was described by The Sydney Morning Herald as "an outspoken critic of harsh asylum seeker policies", after delivering a speech in which he called the Manus Regional Processing Centre "unacceptable" and publicly opposed the Turnbull government's policy of re-settling asylum seekers in the United States.

[12] In January 2021 he stated that the Morrison government should support the Uluru Statement from the Heart and move towards constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.

[14] Indeed, in February 2023, Broadbent and conservative Liberal powerbroker Karina Okotel wrote a book in support of constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.

[21] In February 2022, Broadbent made headlines after promoting ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 in Parliament, claiming that he and his wife had taken it after testing positive to the virus.

[22] In 2022 Broadbent opposed plans by Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to continue with a series of tax cuts on high-income earners due to kick in in 2024 in contrast to his party's stance, arguing that cutting taxes on wealthy individuals in the poor economic situation following the COVID-19 pandemic was not appropriate.

The removal of the tax cut has been suggested by social services groups to allow for more funding to be directed to Australians living in poverty.