The rise of the so-called “teal independents” was one of the great stories the federal election 2022.
In normally secure Liberal seats and with the backing of major new campaign fundraising vehicles, these independents are redrawing the political map and bringing renewed attention to areas normally ignored.
Their “blue-greenness” stems not only from the colors some use in their campaign material, but also from their ideological position: blue, for their economically conservative liberal sensibilities, with a green tinge, reflecting their desire for more climate action on offer of the Liberal-National Coalition Government.
The independent Dr. Monique Ryan, one of the so-called ‘blue-green’ candidates, challenges Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong, Melbourne. (Getty Images)
Much analysis and criticism of these candidates has focused on what unites them: their top issues (climate, integrity, gender justice), their political goals (mostly sedentary moderate liberals), and their source of funding (the climate 200 Australian businessman and political activist Simon Holmes-a-Court’s fund).
In fact, their critics, particularly the coalition and their media allies, claim that they are “false independents” and that they are in every respect a blue-green political party.
But these teal candidates are actually independents. They have not agreed on any firm guidelines and will not necessarily act together if elected.
Indeed, there are many idiosyncrasies of these independents.
Some of these candidates seem to fit that have a chance of seats in Parliament and possibly a crucial vote on who forms the government – it’s worth examining some of the nuances of these different shades of teal.
Allegraspender, who is running for the seat of Wentworth in central Sydney, is of upper-class origin, the daughter of Johnspender, politician and diplomat of the Liberal Party; and, perhaps better known, Carla ZampatiFashion designer, entrepreneur and builder of a multi-million dollar family fortune.
She has worked as a high profile management consultant and in the family business. She fits in well with the affluent constituents of Wentworth’s Sydney seat in every respect.
Your blue-green hue certainly has to be Tiffany Blue® – the copyrighted turquoise of New York’s premier jewelers Tiffany &. Co: a symbol of class, privilege and high fashion.
Aside from the key priorities of climate and integrity,spender’s policies reflect the interests of the region’s upper class – one of Australia’s wealthiest constituencies.
In the question of taxation, she probably distracts from everyone green politics of wealth redistribution, noting with disapproval that Australian personal and corporate taxes are included highest in the OECD. She has advocated a systematic tax review, including a possible increase in the regressive GST.
The other Teal candidates turned this down.
If donor it is Tiffany Blue®then it must be dr. Be Monique Ryan denying Kooyong inside Melbourne Robin’s Egg Blue. This blue-green hue comes from the eggs of red-breasted migratory birds American robin.
Like the bird, Ryan is migratory as she appeared to be from the Labor Party – she was a member from 2007 to 2010 – break up out of frustration at the lack of action on climate change Kevin Rudd.
She insists she has no more links with Labor or any other party, in fact that she could never re-engage with any party, argue that “To think that every person fits into a political box is a misunderstanding and an underestimation of human nature.”
Still, Ryan’s political platform is the most pro-Labour (reddish) of all blue-green independents, largely missing the blue notes of others on issues like corporate and property taxes or defense spending.
Despite her relative progressiveness, Ryan has a real opportunity Removal of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong – the longtime seat of Liberal Party founder Robert Menzies.
Several polls have put them in a winning position, albeit only one, the most recent YouGov multi-level regression surveyhas an almost robust method.
dr Sophie Scamps, who contests Mackellar in north Sydney, is certainly bluer than Ryan. In fact, she routinely aligns herself with the politics of the New South Wales coalition government – if she were running for state politics, she would find sitting alongside Liberals quite comfortable New South Wales Treasurer Matt Kean.
While it has strong hints of green, it’s the bright hue of “bright green” environmentalism — that subgroup of greens who optimistically argue that technological advancement and innovation is the thing to save the planet from ecological collapse – as opposed to taxes or, that is, revolution.
More than other blue-green candidates, Scamps has emphasized the role of electric vehicles and battery technology in combating and confronting climate change Climate protests block the Spit BridgeScamps condemned the action as counterproductive and unacceptable.
Your blue-green then in veridians.
Contrast this with the dark green policies of Climate-200-backed Australian Capital Territory Senate candidate David Pocock. More than the others, Pocock is an environmentalist activist; he was even arrested after chaining himself to equipment at a coal mine protest in New South Wales in 2014.
His support for protests and the uphill battle he faces to win a Senate seat suggest the best color for him may be Dulux’s teal Spartacus™.
There are clear tensions with the veridians Teal from Scamps: Should they find themselves in Parliament, we might expect them to be on different sides on some issues – particularly the more contested protest rights.
However, both seem to be having uphill battles to even get a spot in their respective chambers.
Zoe Daniel, the former ABC journalist who ran for the Goldstein seat on Melbourne’s Bayside against the Liberals’ Tim Wilson, is perhaps the hardest to find on the color wheel.
We could, with mischievous irony, pick Taubman’s Jericho Jade™to highlight the fact that issues surrounding Israel played a large part in their campaign as Goldstein is home to a sizable Jewish community.
Daniel was forced to do this ‘to explain’ their support for Journalists targeted by Israeli forces during the fighting in 2021. Indeed, in recent months she has become a strong defender of Israel’s “right to security.”
Daniel has sentenced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel and opposed the use of the term “apartheid” to describe the Israeli state, despite a increasingly Number by human rights organizations that accept it.
but Jerico Jade™ devotes too much attention to this subject—a notable but by no means dominant one in Goldstein.
It may be more appropriate to pair Daniel with Dulux Mallard Green™ – The mallard is a remarkably adaptable waterbird that can make homes anywhere in the world, even in inner-city niches.
In fact, the mallard is so adaptable that people consider it one of the species of least concern International Union for Conservation of Nature.
That suits Daniel, who grew up in a Labor-elected Tasmanian household before becoming a global foreign correspondent for decades and now a Deficit hate, negative hugsocially liberal independent in Bayside Melbourne.
As a testament to her adaptability, she appears to be the teal candidate best suited to win.
Finally, Zali Steggall is running for re-election in Warringah in New South Wales and, given the prominence of her main opponent – the Liberals – is looking to seize every opportunity to improve her already healthy 7.2% lead Catherine Deves.
The Steggall formula is what the other teals want to emulate.
While there may be points of contention between Steggall and other teals (including perhaps who to accept campaign donations from) it seems inevitable that her 2019 victory and agenda will be the main inspiration for all teal candidates running this year – she is the source of teal mania.
Fantastically, Taubmans named a blue-green color Coolaide™…
There are many other Climate-200-backed independent organizations running across the country, but the point is clear – not all teal candidates think alike.
We might ask why we need to concern ourselves with all these small differences between these candidates. In fact, the big parties probably have just as much more diversity of opinion in them.
The crucial difference between them and the blue-green independents is that in practice party discipline mainly affects this diversity – they can hold internal debates, but in the chamber the parties almost always vote as blocs.
Not necessarily so for these independents.
In Parliament, the differences between them – maybe issues of emphasis, maybe principles, maybe local quirks of their constituencies – could really affect legislative outcomes. To understand their likely influence and agenda, it is probably better not to treat them as a bloc or proto-party—or even as a cohesive movement.
There are many ideological nooks and crannies between blue and green—cramming them all into the “teal” label perhaps conceals more than it explains.
This article was first published on Pursue. read this original article.
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