Updated ,first published
Former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has backed a new centrist party of teal independents to take on the Coalition, as independents Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney rule themselves out of joining.
Independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender, who this masthead first reported were leading the charge, said voters were dissatisfied with the main political parties and a new model could help them expand and meet dissatisfied voters.
“Some different options need to be on the table. Whether it’s an evolution, whether it’s a party, whether it’s just working together differently. I think this is what we need to be thinking about,” Spender said on Monday.
“There are great models in front of community independents. But you know, for instance, you can’t run Senate candidates without a party.”
Steggall said independents were discussing how to be more effective in parliament as voter frustration with the main parties mounted.
“I’ve always been open to having conversations to look at that,” Steggall told a Canberra press conference. “There’s been significant changes, and as an athlete, you always have to meet the field of play. Staying still is not how you keep winning.
Spender said that she was not making commitments to form or join a new party, but “things can evolve” and if there was appetite in the community, a new party could develop.
“This is a question of how do we build something that seeks to come back to … some of those core Australian values, which is: we want to build prosperity in our businesses, we want the environment to be protected, we want to be kind to each other, and we want to make sure the vulnerable are protected. That is something that we’re trying to build,” Spender said.
Turnbull also said on Monday that the opposition had left a vacuum in Australian politics that created prime conditions for a new political movement, after this masthead revealed on Sunday that independent MPs were in the advanced stages of forming a new party structure.
“There is absolutely an opportunity there. I mean, people feel the Liberal Party has moved away from the centre,” Turnbull told Radio National. “That is why the teals were elected, and the more the Liberal Party tries to chase and emulate and copy One Nation, the more it builds up the vote for One Nation.
“I think there is a vacuum for an alternative centre party. Now, the teals would be obvious people to be part of that, or to do that, and I’ve talked to them about that publicly going back some years, but whether they actually decide to do so is up to them.”
Sources familiar with the conversations told this masthead that Turnbull, who is still a Liberal Party member despite attempts to expel him, had raised with moderate Liberals the prospect of joining a new centrist movement. On Monday, Turnbull denied being actively involved in setting up a new party, and sources close to the independents said some conversations had involved Turnbull and some had not.
Both Ryan and Chaney ruled themselves out of running in the next election as part of a party, so it would be unlikely the new grouping would immediately meet minority party status. In a television appearance on Monday afternoon, Chaney said she wasn’t comfortable completely ruling out any moves, but didn’t believe her electorate wanted her to be a party member.
In a letter to volunteers, Mackellar independent Sophie Scamps said she was disappointed that news of a possible party first appeared in the media, and that she would leave it up to her community to decide her future. Scamps will survey her electorate and hold “good old kitchen table conversations to hear from everyone”.
Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele will also consult her community before coming to a decision, saying: “Whether or not my efforts on behalf of Bradfield are best achieved through a formal alliance of community independents is genuinely open for discussion.”
Regional crossbench MPs Helen Haines, Andrew Gee, Rebekha Sharkie and Bob Katter said they did not intend to join any party.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said he was unsurprised by news of a party forming. “The teals have already acted like a party for years,” he said.
Where urban teals stand
Those open to a teal political party
- Zali Steggall
- Allegra Spender
- Sophie Scamps
- Nicolette Boele
Those who have ruled out joining
Members of the party’s moderate faction ruled out any defections, with shadow treasurer Tim Wilson telling Nine’s Today show: “I think no one actually takes this [teal] party seriously … it’s about them achieving their own survival, not the good of the nation.”
Deputy Opposition Leader Jane Hume accused the independents of abandoning the platform of integrity they campaigned on.
“The idea that they have gone out and said to their electorates that they are community independents, that we’re going to do politics differently, but have now demonstrated that they’re going to do it exactly the same way, I think speaks volumes,” Hume told Sky News.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
Nick Newling is a federal politics reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
Brittany Busch is a federal politics reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.