Anderson left the Cabinet and the Labor Party in 2009, after a dispute over Indigenous housing, and then sat as an independent for two years; she joined the opposition Country Liberal Party in 2011 and was elected as a Country Liberal candidate at the 2012 election. She resigned from the CLP in 2014, along with two other Indigenous MPs, briefly becoming an independent once again. However, on 27 April 2014 it was announced that the three MLAs had joined the Palmer United Party, with Anderson serving as parliamentary leader. She resigned from Palmer United to sit as an independent on 29 November 2014. It was briefly rumoured that she was returning to the CLP amid the 2015 CLP leadership spill, but she remained an independent.