Zali Steggall: Independent member for Warringah ahead of the Australian Election

The balance of power seems to be shifting in Australian politics. 

There was a shock U-turn in the polls ahead of the election, with Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party suddenly pulling out in front. 

It now seems likely the party will secure a second term. 

Independent Member for Warringah, Zali Steggall told Ryan Bridge confidence in major parties keeps decreasing, and there’s an increased interest in independent candidates as a result. 

Although convention in parliament has evolved towards party politics, Steggall says the Australian constitution actually allows for a model of parliament in which legislation is tackled on its own merits. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So he's going to the polls tomorrow. It was close,

(00:03):
was close, elbows now pulled ahead. Will he lose his
majority though? Will he need the Greens? Does he need
to do some kind of deal the Tials? Who know
about the Tills a very big movement over there. The
founding member Zalie Stiegel, she took the seat from Tony Abatt,
remember that who had it for twenty five years. Azari's
with me this morning, Good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Good morning, line.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
So how do you think this is going to play out?
What chance do the Tills have? Do you think of
holding the balance of power after this?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Ah, that's a million dollar question many journalists are asking. Look,
I think what we can see is in austrange politics,
the confidence in the major parties keeps decreasing. People are
frustrated and over the old you know, politics for power.
They want to see a focus on policy on people
and communities, and so that primary vote keeps dropping for

(00:49):
the major parties, and we're seeing the rise of community independence,
you know, sometimes labeled tials that are all around the country,
in many, many communities. And I think it's about thirty
five candidates around the country now that have really decent
shots at changing the narratives in those people.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Who would you be most comfortable dealing with.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Look, I'm not particularly open to a deal per se.
I think I will look obviously the will of the
Astrand people. I will look at. An essential element for
me is stability, making sure we have good function in government.
The australiand people have very real issues they need dealing
cost of living, climate risk, insurance, you know, our national security.

(01:30):
All these issues need a stable hand. So I think
transition is really important to look for stability, but ultimately
I will tackle the issues as they come and on
their merits. So I have a very clear pitch to
my community around the issues that I will champion, right
from fiscal discipline and integrity, climate risk and these are

(01:50):
things that I will continue to look to legislation from
either major party to how we can best progress that. Now.
Obviously convention in Parliament has evolved towards this by polarized
system of the two party politics. But our convention doesn't
talk about political parties. It actually talks with a House
of Representatives. So the constitution actually allows for a very

(02:14):
different model of politics to evolve. And I think that's
what a mature Australian Parliament can look like is actually
having more genuine debate and genuinely looking at the the
issues we need to do for the best interest of
austrange people.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
So you don't actually want to do a deal with anyone,
You don't want to be in a coalition, You don't
want to do confidence and supplier. You basically want to
sit on the cross benches and vote by vote.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
I will tackle legislation on its merits looking at those issues. Obviously,
the question of supply and confidence will come down to
numbers as a result of the election, capacity to pass
legislation from one side or the other. When it comes
to money bills, there's a lot of I guess convention
that is not actually required Constitutionally. A party can go

(02:59):
to the Government General to form government without having a
signed deal per se. It is just a question of
whether they would be able to survive a no confidence motion.
Now again I would not for me. You know, it's
very important to have stable operating government and I think
that again will be part of the consideration post the election.

Speaker 3 (03:20):
Just give us a sense of who the Teals are.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
You're physically conservative that you've obviously got a climate leans
on you.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
What does your voter base want from you?

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Look, I guess we're very representative of our communities. But
what it is is actually communities frustrated with old style politics,
you know, the old school of the major parties slinging
it out against each other. A lot of negatives are advertising,
always really spreading smear and fear, but very little vision

(03:50):
or positive proposals for our community. So we are not
a party, so we vote very independently of one another,
but we're very aligned on values around merit based policy,
around fact base, around sound and good law, around integrity, equality,
addressing the big issues, having political courage to talk about

(04:13):
the things that are hard to do but that currently
our political system are just kicking the can down the
road and not addressing.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Can you just make this really clear for Kiwi's listening
to this this morning. If it's really tight and you've
got Labor and the Greens on one side, and you've
got the Coalition on the other and neither of them
can actually govern them without support from some tilsome independence.

Speaker 3 (04:34):
Who do you go with?

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Well, again, I don't think that will be the question,
Keeping in mind coalition is already an agreement between the
Liberal Party and the National Time so that is already
a coalition in itself. I want to understand the terms
of that agreement. I think there will be a question
of is there a mandate for change of government or not,
depending on the will of the Australian people. And I

(04:56):
will be guided by the numbers and there are so
many variations what could be possible.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
But however Australians support more, you would lean towards I.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Would because again that shows a capacity for stability, which
I think is an essense, That is an essential aspect.

Speaker 1 (05:14):
All right, Zali, appreciate you coming on the program. That
Zalie Stiegel. She's the MP for Wringer. She replaced Tony
Abbott who had the seat for twenty five years. She's
a teel and independent. And since that interview, there's a
U Gava Bulb poll and if you believe the polls,
and certainly that wasn't the case when Scomo surprised Surprise
one in twenty nineteen, but it has the coalition on

(05:35):
track for their worst result in eighty years. Elbow actually
expanding his majority eighty four seats in the Parliament, well above,
of course, the seventy six that you need. The Coalition
drops forty seven seats, a net loss of eleven.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
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Speaker 1 (05:53):
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