Small parties do not hand around a lot..
I am thinking this could well be because they do not understand their own raison d'etre. Personality conflicts loom large as well.
Most small parties are their for purely to protect sectional interests like the National party or more usually as a protest against the major parties. Don Chipp put it best when he said a person votes for the Australian Democrats to keep the bastards honest!
If we examine any declines in small parties it is when they completely change their raison d'etre and try to be a mainstream party.
The Australian Democrats imploded when some people got too big for their breeches and they are no longer around.
A small look at One Nation, Clive Palmer's once party, Nick Xenophon's party shows they lose big time when they change from being a protest party and think they will become a major party. When that party is named after one person it seems personality conflicts appear compulsory!!
Nick Xenophon after his SA election debacle has learned one lesson and that is get rid of a person's name. Neither Pauline Hanson nor Jacquie Lambie have learned this lesson. Neither could be accused of being intelligent with at least Lambie does not have a Svengali hanging around in the background.
It seems both women have made the choice that name recognition outweighs problems of personality.
We shall see
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