00:02We have confirmation that some teal independents are in talks about the prospect of potentially
00:08forming their own political party, although we don't know exactly how it's going to look
00:13just yet.
00:14Of course, these independents pride themselves on being fully independent and having the
00:20freedom to vote whichever way they want and without being constrained by some of the rules
00:25of the major parties.
00:26Now, independent politicians have been around for some time, but they really did rise to
00:32prominence at the federal election in 2022, when a group of teals successfully ousted six
00:39sitting Liberal MPs.
00:41Now, that was the same year that independent Senator David Pocock was elected to the Senate
00:47here in the ACT.
00:48Senator Pocock spoke to the ABC's Insiders program yesterday, where he said that Australians
00:54are feeling increasingly disillusioned by the two major parties, and he left the door open
01:00to forming a party made up of independence.
01:02Yeah, there's plenty of conversations going on all the time.
01:06I mean, this is something...
01:07And you're open to this?
01:09Yeah, I'm always happy to chat about the future of our country.
01:12You know, I think there's so many people in politics for the right reasons.
01:16And when you're in there, you want to say, well, how do we actually ensure that people
01:20can elect people that are going to come here and really deal with the root causes of the
01:24problems that we're facing?
01:26Our independent MP, Allegra Spender, also spoke to the ABC earlier this morning, where she
01:31said that voters are feeling frustrated by the current system.
01:35I have had conversations over a period of time about, you know, how politics could evolve,
01:41because people keep on coming to me and say they're really worried about the times that
01:45we're in.
01:46They're really concerned that, frankly, the major parties are not addressing the issues
01:51that matter most to people.
01:52I've certainly had lots of conversations, nothing more than that to announce at the moment,
01:57but that's why, because, oh, genuine, I'm worried as well.
02:01Now, Gemma, this push to form a more formal, organised structure could be part of a way to streamline
02:08the independence influence over policy, but it could also be a way to access more money
02:14in the form of political donations.
02:16So from July this year, new electoral rules will come into effect, which have the effect
02:24of favouring major parties by giving them more access to political donations.
02:29Independent MP Zali Stegall spoke to ABC Radio National about this earlier this morning,
02:34where she says that these new laws will unfairly disadvantage independents.
02:40I think it was the major parties trying to rig the game for their best interest.
02:45And that does, that did also force me to look at the setup and the disadvantage there is
02:51in being a community independent versus a major party.
02:54The spending caps, the donation caps, there are many things that favour major party structures.
03:00But it's not just about the money.
03:02This could also be part of a response to the rise in support for One Nation.
03:08A Redbridge poll came out on Friday, which showed that One Nation would win up to 59 seats
03:15if an election was held today, making them the real, the main opposition party here in Australia.
03:21Obviously, the coalition is spooked by One Nation, and there has been some reporting that suggests
03:28that perhaps moderate liberals who feel uncomfortable about the rise of right-wing populism
03:33could perhaps find a home with a new centrist party made up of teal independence.
03:39It's certainly an idea that has appealed to former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
03:44He says that the coalition has moved so far to the right that the only centrist party left
03:50in Australia is the Labor Party.
03:53But of course, it's early days and the details are still being ironed out around what exactly
03:58this potential political party of teal independence could look like if it does eventuate.
04:03But the fact that we are talking about it and that it is something that's on the table
04:07really does speak to this disillusionment in Australia with the two major parties.
Comments