Turnbull says independent party could fill 'vacuum' in Australian politics

Indepedent MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender have confirmed they are open to forming an alternative party. (ABC News: Nick Haggarty) Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says teal MPs have an opportunity to fill a hole in the centre of Australian politics created by the Liberals. Mr Turnbull has denied he is setting up an alternative party but says the teals are the most "obvious" choice. Teal MPs Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall have confirmed they have discussed forming a new party. Link copiedShareShare articleFormer prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says teal and independent candidates have an opportunity to fill a "vacuum" left by the Liberals, but denies he is setting up an alternative party. Independent MPs Zali Steggall, Allegra Spender and David Pocock have confirmed they are in conversations about a potential party of independents in response to the rising popularity of One Nation and the far right. While Mr Turnbull denied his involvement in "actually setting something up," he said he had been in discussions with teal MPs publicly, "going back some years", about an alternative. “The teals are the most obvious people to do that, or be part of that," he said. "People feel the Liberal Party has moved away from the centre, which is why the teals were elected. "The more the Liberal Party tries to chase and emulate and copy one nation, the more it builds up the vote for One Nation." Mr Turnbull said he was not aware of a push to poach moderate Liberals as reported in the Nine Newspapers, but said he "wouldn't be surprised". "People talk about this stuff all the time," he said. Malcolm Turnbull says the teals are the "obvious" choice for a centrist alternative to the Liberals. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore) Independent member for Warringah, Zali Steggal, said she was "open" to the idea of an alternative political party. She confirmed she had been in discussions with ACT independent David Pocock, who told Insiders on Sunday "plenty of conversations" were taking place. Senator Pocock said the growing influence of One Nation and the far right had helped drive those discussions. Independents have also been angered by changes to campaign spending rules, which cap donations to individual MPs. A Redbridge poll published this weekend suggested One Nation could win as many as 59 seats in the lower house if an election were held today, becoming the main opposition party. "There is a lot of frustration and anger out there in the community that our political system is not working for Australians," Senator Pocock said. "There's this recognition that on so many of these big challenges we are facing, it's not necessarily left versus right, it's actually vested interests and their stranglehold on the major parties versus the Australian people." One Nation would win dozens of seats if a federal election was held today, according to a major opinion poll. Ms Steggal said she was open to how "we can do things differently". "There are conversations, that's all I can say at this point," she said. Independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender also confirmed she was considering her future and how "politics could evolve". "They look at the states like South Australia and WA, where there is no effective opposition, and a lot of people say we need to do something different," she said. However, independent Kooyong MP Monique Ryan distanced herself from the idea of a new party, saying she would continue serving in the role she was elected to as a "community independent". Independent MPs Andrew Gee, Helen Haines, Rebekha Sharkie, Kate Chaney and Bob Katter have also ruled out forming a party. Some independents on the cross-bench already have a track record of collaboration. Often referred to as teal independents, they are part of a group of elected MPs who came into parliament by contesting seats traditionally held by the Liberal Party. Ms Spender acknowledged that becoming a formal party would be a "big challenge". "That is why I am not announcing anything," she said. "People want to be represented locally, they want to feel their representatives are accountable to them, and I think the major parties have really missed that. "But the question is, is there a way to evolve how we work together, or how some of us work together, so that we can more explicitly align on certain areas and then where our communities and where we fundamentally disagree to have that freedom?" One of the benefits of becoming a formal party would be access to campaign funding, which was reformed under the Labor government, backed by the Liberals, following the federal election last year. The changes put in place spending and donation caps on MPs, but party structures can spend on national campaigning. Ms Spender said conversations about establishing a new political party went beyond access to campaign spending. "The government changes which were wholeheartedly supported by the Liberal Party tipped the balance away from independent

Turnbull says independent party could fill 'vacuum' in Australian politics

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Turnbull says independent party could fill 'vacuum' in Australian politics

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