Indigenous leader Warren Mundine is over party politics and has ruled out putting his hand up for a potential Labor Senate seat.
There is speculation former foreign minister Bob Carr will quit the Senate, creating the vacancy.
Mr Mundine, a former Australian Labor Party president, had been considered the frontrunner to replace Mark Arbib when he quit politics last year but instead Prime Minister Julia Gillard selected Senator Carr and made him foreign minister.
Mr Mundine has since severed ties with the ALP.
Asked if he was interested in the potential Senate spot, Mr Mundine said he was "very busy at the moment".
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"One thing I learnt from last year's experience was that I think my time is past, that's why I left the Labor Party," Mr Mundine told AAP.
Last week, Mr Mundine was officially appointed chairman of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's new indigenous advisory council.
He hasn't joined any other party.
"The only party I'm looking forward to is my 60th now," he said.
Mr Mundine said he was focused on getting outcomes for indigenous people.
"I'm a bit over party politics," he said.
Labor leadership contender Bill Shorten wants Labor to set quotas for indigenous candidates.
