View from The Hill: would a ‘party of independents’ be a contradiction in terms? |
The flirtation by some “teals” with the idea of forming a new party is part of the major shakeup underway in our political system, mostly on its conservative side.
They say they want to find more effective ways to serve the community, and tackle the big issues the major parties are not addressing. They’re concerned by the One Nation surge.
On a more practical matter – money – they criticise the new funding laws for the 2028 election as disadvantaging independents compared to parties.
Perhaps a community independents’ party could make a push for Senate seats. ACT Senator David Pocock is a “teal equivalent”.
But any move by some current independents to form a party would be fraught.
To start with, even the teals are divided about the idea. Zali Steggall (Warringah) and Allegra Spender (Wentworth) at a joint news conference indicated they’re open to such a move.
“I’ve always been very keen to look at how do I grow the impact that Warringah can have on policy, and how do we in fact achieve better impact on policies,” Steggall said.
“Ultimately, this is about putting forward........