{"id":18645,"date":"2026-05-26T05:32:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/18645\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T05:32:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T05:32:21","slug":"teal-independents-split-on-forming-new-centrist-party","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/18645\/","title":{"rendered":"Teal independents split on forming new centrist party"},"content":{"rendered":"

A push to establish a new centrist political party<\/a> to challenge the Coalition has received a mixed reaction among the teal crossbenchers, with several Climate 200-backed independents distancing themselves from any move towards a formal structure.<\/p>\n

Sydney-based independents Zali Steggall<\/a> and Allegra Spender<\/a>, who respectively represent the divisions of Warringah and Wentworth, fronted the cameras on Monday to declare their openness to reshaping the teal movement into a political party.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome different options need to be on the table. Whether it\u2019s an evolution, whether it\u2019s a party, whether it\u2019s just working together differently. I think this is what we need to be thinking about,\u201d Ms Spender told reporters.<\/p>\n

Appearing alongside her, Ms Steggall confirmed conversations had been held among Climate 200-backed MPs about how to bolster their political clout and tap into heightened voter frustration with the major parties.<\/p>\n

\"Teals<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an athlete, you always have to meet the field of play. Staying still is not how you keep winning,\u201d she said, noting that looming changes to electoral spending and donations laws<\/a> would make it more difficult for independents to be elected.<\/p>\n

However, the remaining four Climate 200-backed independents appeared far less enthusiastic about joining a formal party.<\/p>\n

Bradfield independent Nicolette Boele<\/a> ruled out contesting the next election as part of a new political party but left open the prospect of a more formal alliance beyond the federal poll scheduled for 2028.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether or not my efforts on behalf of Bradfield are best achieved through a formal alliance of community independents is genuinely open for discussion,\u201d the Northern Beaches MP said. <\/p>\n

Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps<\/a> similarly stopped short of endorsing the proposal, saying any decision would be guided by consultation with her electorate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always engaged my community in open and honest dialogue on the issues that affect them, and this is no different,\u201d Dr Scamps said.<\/p>\n

Outside of Sydney, however, Climate 200-backed MPs actively distanced themselves from the proposal. Kooyong MP Monique Ryan<\/a> and Curtin MP Kate Chaney<\/a> both ruled out joining a political party, reaffirming their commitment to the community independent model.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no intention of running in the next election as anything other than a community independent for Kooyong,\u201d Dr Ryan told reporters in Canberra, while Ms Chaney said she intended to continue representing her constituents outside of a political party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am interested in working more collaboratively with other crossbenchers on policy \u2013 many of our communities have similar values \u2013 but right now I do not think that requires me to be a member of a political party,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Speculation the teals could band together has circulated for months, with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull \u2013 who remains a Liberal Party member despite \u00adattempts to expel him \u2013 among those encouraging the \u00adformation of a new centrist party.<\/p>\n

On Monday, however, Mr Turnbull said he had no active role in establishing a new political party, but claimed the Opposition\u2019s shift \u201caway from the centre\u201d had created the conditions for a centrist party to flourish. \u201cI think there is a vacuum for an alternative centre party. Now, the teals would be obvious people to be part of that,\u201d he told ABC Radio.<\/p>\n

Read related topics:Climate Change<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A push to establish a new centrist political party to challenge the Coalition has received a mixed reaction…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[18353,22,23,133,5402,21,2184,18356,18360,18357,18365,18348,18354,18355,18363,18359,18362,18349,3965,7134,355,18358,120,14543,18361,18364,247,18350,18352,18351],"class_list":["post-18645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-alternative-centre-party","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-capital-territory","tag-austrlia","tag-canberra","tag-centrist-party","tag-centrist-political-party","tag-community-independent-model","tag-community-independents","tag-curtin-mp-kate-chaney","tag-electoral-spending","tag-federal-poll","tag-formal-alliance","tag-formal-structure","tag-independents-distancing","tag-kooyong-mp-monique-ryan","tag-liberal-party","tag-malcolm-turnbull","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nicolette-boele","tag-oceania","tag-party-poopers","tag-political-party","tag-ryan","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-based-independents","tag-teal-crossbenchers","tag-teal-movement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}