Former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon has announced he will once again run for the Senate.
Mr Xenophon resigned from his Senate seat in 2017 to mount an ultimately unsuccessful bid to run for the South Australian parliament.
In a video posted to a newly created website, Mr Xenophon said he had "tried to be a political hermit" but "can no longer sit on the sidelines."
"For the last four years I've tried to be a political hermit, minding my own business and leaving it up to others to be involved in the political decisions that ultimately affect our lives, and those of our loved ones," he said in the video.
"I can no longer sit on the sidelines. Incredibly, it's gotten worse in Canberra. It's nastier, full of hatred and bile that eats away at our nation's core.
"So many of them are too busy doing a job on each other, rather than doing a job we're paying for.
"I must come back, to call them out and to speak out on the issues that have to be tackled."
Mr Xenophon suggested twice last year that he might run for election again, while promoting a court case, which he ultimately lost, in the US about the Ugg trademark.
Mr Xenophon will be running as an independent, alongside former Centre Alliance running mate Stirling Griff.
Their ticket will compete against another former Centre Alliance-turned-independent Senator Rex Patrick, who last month ruled out a mooted tilt at the regional House of Representatives seat of Grey.
Mr Xenophon said he had not spoken to Senator Patrick, who released a statement saying he would tomorrow make an announcement concerning his political intentions.
"Clearly Nick Xenophon's decision to throw his hat into the SA Senate changes the landscape," he said.
Mr Xenophon was a member of South Australia's Legislative Council from 1997 to 2007 under the No Pokies banner and then was a senator from 2008 to 2017.
His state-based party SA Best gained 1 per cent of the vote at Saturday's state election.
Xenophon defends work for Huawei
At a media conference this afternoon, Mr Xenophon said that key issues for him were "aged care, health, how we deal with the post-pandemic economy", adding that he wanted to "tackle the toxic culture of Canberra".
While he was talking tough on national security, he defended his legal work on behalf of Chinese tech giant Huawei, which has close links to the Chinese government.
"We thought that it was the right thing to do, to provide legal representation. I think that is a red herring," he said.
"I'm no longer acting for that company and the important thing is this: lawyers act for all sorts of clients."
Mr Xenophon said another priority would be national security and ensuring that submarine jobs flowed to SA, given that "the world is a much more uncertain place than it was a few months ago".
"The real concern is that thousands of South Australian jobs are going to be lost because we're still all at sea literally when it comes to what is happening with the subs deal," he said.
"I want to focus on domestic issues, but I also support what the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader have said, for instance, on Ukraine where the invasion of Ukraine by Putin has been an abomination and a crime against humanity.
"We need the capability now, not in 20 years' time, to defend Australia's interests."
'No Bollywood' but stunts still on the cards
Well known for his stunts and cut-through media presence, Nick Xenophon has been a political force in South Australia.
He was first elected to the state parliament in 1997 on a "No Pokies" platform.
He was successfully re-elected in 2006, securing more than 20 per cent of the statewide vote, enough to get a running-mate Ann Bressington elected.
Ms Bressington later spectacularly distanced herself from Mr Xenophon, declaring him "more spin than substance".
It was the first of several public splits between Mr Xenophon and running mates.
Mr Xenophon quit state politics to run for the Senate in 2007, visiting the giraffe enclosure at Adelaide Zoo to declare he would "stick his neck out for South Australia".
He was elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2014, before forming the Nick Xenophon Team to contest the 2016 double-dissolution election.
The campaign was a stunning success. Mr Xenophon's fledgling party secured more than 21 per cent of the statewide Senate vote, securing three Senate seats and one in the House of Representatives.
Mr Xenophon quit the Senate in 2017 to mount an ultimately unsuccessful bid to win the balance of power in the South Australian parliament.
Under the banner of a new party known as SA Best, Mr Xenophon appeared set to win a swag of seats at the 2018 SA election, and was even named as preferred premier in opinion polls leading up to the date.
However, the polling did not translate to seat victories at the election, with SA Best failing to win a lower house seat, despite securing almost 15 per cent of the statewide vote.
Mr Xenophon has been in self-imposed political exile since, but emerged on the state election campaign trail in its dying days to help independent candidate Frances Bedford in her unsuccessful tilt for the marginal seat of Newland.
Asked whether the public could expect to see trademark political stuns, Mr Xenophon quipped there would be "no Bollywood" — a reference to his 2018 SA campaign ad featuring music and dancing — but did not rule them out entirely.
"I don't know. It's a question of getting the message across. I like to think that my stunts always have a purpose," he said.
