In brief
- Two teal MPs have joined forces to launch a new centrist party, saying Australia needs "unity over division".
- It's divided the crossbench, with most teal MPs having previously indicated they would not join a formal party structure.
Teal independents Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender have unveiled a new political party — Community Strong Australia — pitching it as a centrist alternative targeting the "politically homeless" amid the rise of One Nation and growing instability in Australian politics.
The Sydney MPs say the new party is designed to bring a "successful community-led model to more Australians and more communities across the country".
The party will focus on housing affordability, cost of living, climate action, childcare, education, healthcare and social cohesion.
It aims to extend the community independent model beyond the handful of lower house seats where it has so far taken hold.
It will carry teal-coloured branding and will run for election in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
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A 'centrist' and leaderless party
The party will have no single leader.
Instead, according to its constitution, "parliamentary leaders will collectively lead".
Members are expected to advocate for the party's four "policy pillars" — sensible economic management, climate action, equality and integrity — but retain a free vote on the floor of parliament.
"Their primary commitment will be to the people who elect them and the values they share," the party said in a statement.
Steggall said the community independent movement had shown what was possible when people "united around shared values and practical solutions", adding the party was about "extending that opportunity" to more Australians.
"Australia is at a turning point and people are worried about what the future holds," she said.
"Community Strong Australia offers unity over division and reason over rage. We invite everyone who shares those values to join us."
The party has branded itself as "centrist", with Steggall telling the Sydney Morning Herald it won't be a "centre-right replacement".
"It is not a life raft for the Liberal Party. They have done their own damage to their own movement," she said.
Wentworth MP Spender said the party would offer an alternative to a politics of division and said it would be a home for those who feel "politically homeless".
"Our country's success wasn’t built on complaining or fighting each other. It was built on the common good of hard work, tolerance, shared identity and purpose," she said.
"It was built from communities up — and that is where politics needs to return.
"At a time when others are promoting conflict and hate, I feel a strong sense of responsibility to provide a real political alternative and promote a positive narrative about what Australia is and what we can achieve together."
Will anyone else join?
To qualify for minority party status, the party would need five parliamentary members, meaning it still needs to attract at least three more.
For now, it's just Steggall and Spender — but that could change.
Independent MP for Bradfield Nicolette Boele congratulated the pair but stopped short of committing.
"For now, I am remaining independent. That is the mandate Bradfield gave me, and any decision to change that belongs to my community, not to a press conference," she said.
"I am still working through what this party would allow me to do for the people I represent that I cannot already do as a community independent — and until I am certain, I will not pretend otherwise."
Victorian MP Helen Haines previously said she would want to remain as an independent for her community, while Monique Ryan said in May that remaining independent would honour her commitment to her Victorian electorate of Kooyong.
WA independent Kate Chaney also previously said she was interested in working "collaboratively" with other crossbenchers but said it did not require her to be a "member of a political party".
Other crossbenchers, including Bob Katter, former National Andrew Gee and Centre Alliance's Rebekha Sharkie, also said they would stay as independents.
ACT senator David Pocock has previously suggested he was open to new political arrangements, telling ABC's Insiders in May: "We're in a real time of flux politically ... as to what that looks like in the future, who knows?"
An application has been lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission to register Community Strong Australia as a political party, with registration expected to be finalised by October.
— With additional reporting by Wing Kuang.
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