TRANSCRIPT
The teal independents arrived in force on the political landscape at the last election in 2022.
A teal independent refers to the independent candidates who made history at the 2022 federal election by winning traditionally safe Liberal seats. The colour teal is a mixture of blue- the Liberal party's colour- and green.
This year, the pressure was on to prove themselves more than just a one-term wonder - and they did.
Although some seats are yet to be called, so far every independent elected at the last election has been returned - except for Kylea Tink, whose seat of North Sydney was abolished.
Ms Steggall, who won the Sydney electorate of Warringah for a third term, has told Sky News voters want substance and solutions over political bickering.
"I think Australians have rejected adversarial politics and sort of divisive politics - and have looked for policies and solutions. I think where it was about identity politics. it was a pretty profound rejection. I know from my experience on the ground going to - I went to 27 booths yesterday during the day. And overwhelmingly the message I got voters was they really rejected the fear and smear campaigns. Overall, the message I got, was that truth in political advertising is what people want to see."
Some seats contested by independents are still in play.
On Sydney's affluent north shore, teal independent Nicolette Boele might take the seat of Bradfield away from the Liberal Party for the first time.
It's also a tight race in Goldstein in Melbourne, where teal independent MP Zoe Daniel is currently leading Liberal Party candidate Tim Wilson by just 95 votes.
In the Western Australian seat of Curtin, independent MP Kate Chaney has claimed victory, extending her margin over her Liberal competitor.
She also believes voters are looking for positivity from politicians.
"I think in Curtin, there are a lot of people who feel that Peter Dutton does not represent their values. We've seen politics of fear and division culture wars, and very little strong direction in terms of a positive outlook for the country. And I'm sure that that had a big impact on the outcome."
But it is not only Liberal-held seats facing a teal threat.
Fremantle in Western Australia was previously held by Labor with a 17 per cent margin.
The seat remains too close to call but independent Kate Hulett is currently leading Labor candidate Josh Wilson.
While Labor M-P David Smith is narrowly holding off a challenge from independent Jessie Price in the A-C-T seat of Bean - until now, Labor heartland.
Independent A-C-T senator David Pocock, who doubled his vote on re-election, says the Teals' appeal cuts across party lines.
" The four big things I've been hearing from people in the ACT about, it'd be no surprise to anyone in Australia, housing, cost of living health, and then climate and the environment. I think on all four of those things, people are sick of tinkering. They've seen the major parties put up solutions, which, sure might be a solution, but they don't actually get to the root cause. I think we've shown in the last parliament that independents are willing to engage with anyone, with the government, with the opposition on different ideas. And that's what Australians expect. And that has been my commitment to people in the ACT. I'll take issue of policy on its merits, engage, understand it, consult widely, and then ultimately vote on behalf of people in the ACT. "
Despite teal wins at this election, the Labor government will still hold a historically large majority of seats in the House of Representatives.
But Accent Research Principal Shaun Ratcliff says the government will still be motivated to listen to the independents.
"If I was Labor, I would want to give the independents that hold former Liberal seats, big wins. You want them to be able to go back to their electorate and say, look what I did. If I was in the box seat I would be giving them things they could take back to their electorate over the next three years."
The teals are independent candidates but share some much in common - most notably, they receive campaign funding from not-for-profit group Climate 200.
They run on a platform of action to tackle to climate change, integrity in politics and fiscal responsibility.
In Mackellar in Sydney, local doctor Sophie Scamps has increased her margin from 3 per cent to more than 10 per cent, after winning the once-safe Liberal seat in 2022.
As well as campaigning on local issues such as roads and hospitals, she says voters responded to practical solutions on major issues like housing and energy.
"So many conversations, it came down to housing and how unaffordable it was to live here in Mackellar for young people, for key workers. And it's not only absolutely devastating for them to have to move out of the area, but also devastating for our community here as well. So really fighting on those types of issues. And also practical things as well, constructive solutions. We have an energy crisis. We're in a phase of transition, coming up with ideas that are, I think, very constructive, like calling for battery subsidies for households so that we can shift that clean electricity from people's rooftop solar and discharge it to the grid at night when there's peak demand. "
Not all independents in parliament are aligned with the Teal movement funded by Climate 200.
In the western New South Wales seat of Calare [[Kal-AIR]], former Nationals-turned-independent MP Andrew Gee was re-elected with a healthy margin.
And the once-safe Labor seat of Fowler in Sydney's culturally diverse west will remain in the hands of independent MP Dai Le, following a tight contest with Labor candidate Tu Le.
Against this backdrop, political researcher Shaun Ratcliff says independents and the teals are here for the long run, especially in wealthy inner city seats.
"I think what some of these MPs are going anywhere. And even if they do, there's no guarantee the Coalition or Liberal Party wins some of these seats back. I could see I could see I could foresee a future where Wentworth is never won but not won by another Liberal in the medium term, or even the long term. It's quite possible they've lost Wentworth. Some of the other seats, it's less certain."
It seems certainty has never been less certain in politics.
