The Teal Revolution
We know them by their teal t-shirts and many of them by first name: Zali, Zoe, Mon, Allegra, Kylea, Sophie. So who are they, who’s driving and what do you need to know if you live in a seat with an independent you’re thinking of voting for?
Let’s take it back and look at the start of the revolution. Remember that shouty Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella? Doesn’t matter if you don’t but in 2013, a remarkable group in Victoria called “Voices of Indi” started a true grassroots community led campaign and Cathy McGowan was elected as their candidate to parliament, bumping off Mirabella in a safe, blue ribbon liberal seat. It was a campaign where the community came together, literally around kitchen tables and community centres and decided what they wanted from their local MP and then they found someone who they felt would represent them.
The people of Indi have since endorsed McGowan’s replacement, the formidable Independent Helen Haines who will hold the seat again this election. Voices of Indi grew to Voices of Wentworth, Warringah, North Sydney, Goldstein, Kooyong …. You see where this is going right?
All blue ribbon liberal seats that have been held forever and the electorates have changed and they want to see themselves represented in parliament. The locals want more from their candidate than a party hack who toes the line. These electorates are filled with people who care about climate action, the aged care crisis, corruption and the cost of living. These electorates are packed with people with kids, huge mortgages and concerned grandparents who get that we really need to do a whole lot more than business as usual if we are to protect our kids futures.
Wentworth for example. It’s not just rich old white people anymore who will vote Liberal by default. It’s diverse communities like Bondi, and Potts Point. Families with huge mortgages being crunched with inflation and looming interest rate rises while wage growth is stagnant. An aspirational and very large group of young and middle aged renters who will vote on issues like climate and housing affordability. Sounds like a lot of us, right? Allegra Spender is the independent going up against Liberal MP Dave Sharma. Spender is from Liberal Party royalty. Her father, John Spender, was the liberal Member for North Sydney. Spender may well win the seat.
Now this part is important. Make no mistake, these teal independents are not secret Labor agents. They are mostly people who would have been moderate Liberals until the Liberal-National Government went nuts under Morrison, Dutton and ole’ Barnaby Joyce. From the “I don’t hold a hose” through to last weeks declaration by the Nationals that “Net Zero is dead” which quite frankly I’m still recovering from. The LNP have just rolled from one failure to the next and it’s all a bit of a clown car now.
Further to the north, Mackellar has been a liberal seat since the dawn of time. They’ve endured Bronwyn Bishop and now Jason Falinski who’s a nice bloke but a backbencher and follows the party lines on votes regarding fossil fuels and climate inaction. No surprise that in a seat than runs from Dee Why up the Palm Beach, climate is a huge issue. Dr Sophie Scamps is the teal candidate and things are looking very good for her.
In Victoria, Zoe Daniel and Dr Monique Ryan are giving Liberals Tim Wilson and Josh Frydenberg a massive run for their money in Goldstein and Kooyong respectively. I believe at least one of them, if not both, will win.
So this is really big stuff. These independents are changing the way we do politics in Australia. So who’s behind them? My first and really important bit of advice is don’t believe the bullshit that they are a single party, ALP hacks, or secret agents of Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 group.
The teal independents are truly independent. Hand to god. They are supported by some of the same elements like the Climate 200 group because it is virtually impossible to run a campaign without some pretty massive infrastructure like the major parties use. Climate 200 are open and transparent about their intent: “Taking on major parties is hard. So at the upcoming federal election, we’re raising funds to support around 20 underdog candidates who stand for cleaning up politics and following the science on climate change”. That’s it — as long as the candidates put climate change up front (and why on earth, literally, wouldn’t you?) they get much needed support.
I hope I’ve answered some of your questions about the independents. Hit me up on twitter if you have more @pollypolitics99
Sorry for the delay in the column, crazy times! I’ll be back in a few days to talk about some of the big issues the LNP and ALP are duking it out over.
Until next time,
Polly x
