Wallabies and Brumbies legend David Pocock has today announced he will run as an independent candidate for an ACT Senate seat at the 2022 federal election.

Running independently with the endorsement of local community organisation ProACT, Mr Pocock told Canberra Daily he decided to do so after feeling “increasingly frustrated” with the lack of action on key issues and accountability in politics.

“We need more real people in politics,” he said.

“We need less career politicians and more people who are genuinely in there to make things better, represent their community, and be held accountable by their community.”

Without singling them out or naming them, Mr Pocock said the ACT’s current senators, Katy Gallagher and Zed Seselja, aren’t representing their community.

“Canberra’s been leading the country on so many issues,” he said.

“If you look at Canberrans and marriage equality and wanting to build a more inclusive society, if you look at climate action Canberra is leading the way there, and yet we’re not being represented like that in the senate.”

He believes being an independent Senator would give him the platform to make meaningful change, allowing him to make decisions “in the best interest of Canberrans”.

“It’s really exciting to potentially have an independent in there who can make decisions … I don’t have to take party platform workshopped and tested for widest appeal,” he said.

His announcement may come as no surprise to rugby fans who followed Mr Pocock’s wildly successful career. Throughout his playing days he famously took a stand on numerous political issues both on- and off-field.

In 2012, he announced with his partner Emma they would formalise their own marriage when same-sex marriage became legal in Australia; in 2014 he was arrested and charged for locking himself to digging equipment at Whitehaven Coal’s Maules Creek Mine site; and in 2015 he complained to the referee twice in a match against the Waratahs over the use of homophobic slurs by opposition players.

“People who followed my rugby career would say that I was political,” he said. “Personally, that really just came out of wanting to actually talk about the issues I feel are really important.”

Climate action ‘a huge economic opportunity’

Climate action and environmental conservation have long been causes dear to Mr Pocock’s heart, and feature prominently in his progressive political agenda.

Growing up on his family’s farm outside of Gweru in Zimbabwe before relocating to Australia in 2001, he’s had a longstanding connection to nature, land, and the environment.

The 33-year-old has co-founded several charitable organisations, working in regenerative agriculture, conservation, climate advocacy, and food and water security in rural Zimbabwe.

He has also studied extensively in the field, completing a Masters of Sustainable Agriculture, and believes his views on the matter are closely aligned with that of the ACT’s constituency.

“We stand to benefit so much from climate action, I want to be part of changing that, I think that’s something Canberrans want,” he said.

“Climate action is a huge economic opportunity, and the cost of inaction is pretty horrendous if you look at some pretty solid modelling.”

Alongside climate action, Territory rights, and integrity amongst the political class, other issues important to Mr Pocock include veterans’ mental health; constitutional recognition for First Nations people; and more Canberra-specific issues like small business, the university sector, and public service.

He’s keen to build his platform more extensively through discussing and engaging with the wider Canberra community.

“It’s pretty early and I think the great thing about being an independent is you get to consult and build a platform Canberrans are concerned about,” he said.

“I’m coming into this wanting to learn from the community and to find ways to represent them and see what that looks like in the senate, so I’d hope that people see I have a track record of standing up for issues I believe in.”

Mr Pocock moved to Canberra in 2012 to begin what turned into a seven-year stint with the Brumbies.

Nearly a decade later, he proudly calls the capital home.

“I love the place and how accessible nature is, our nature reserves, and I guess just how diverse Canberra is, in many ways,” he said.

“Canberrans are really proud about living in the ACT, and I think we can continue to improve things and actually contribute more to shaping wider Australians’ political debate and our future.”

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