Independent Australian MPs will form a new centrist political party

Two independent Australian MPs have joined forces to form a new centrist political party in response to an increasingly divisive landscape.

Community Strong Australia’s party – launched in Canberra on Thursday – offers “unity over division and reason over anger”, has no leader and allows members to vote freely across party lines.

Two of its members – Sydney MPs Zally Stegall and Allegra Spender – are from a group of independent MPs known as the “teals”, who share socially liberal values ​​and seek strong climate action.

The pair said the party would provide an “alternative political force” to Australia’s current two-party system.

Australia’s political landscape has traditionally been dominated by two major parties – the centre-left Labor and the Liberal-Nationals coalition, which is conservative.

While Labor won a landslide victory in last year’s federal election for a second term, the Coalition suffered its worst ever defeat and faced months of infighting.

The right-wing One Nation party – led by Pauline Hanson – has seen a surge in support in recent months, including one poll that found her to be prime minister.

Steggall and Spender were asked whether the recent surge in support for One Nation and their anti-immigration rhetoric had prompted them to decide to form a new party, saying they were guided by what their constituents were telling them.

“We absolutely hear these complaints. People are frustrated and fed up with the situation,” Spender said. “If I wasn’t in politics, I wouldn’t know who I would vote for.”

In the year Spender, who won her seat in 2022, said the party “wants to hear from communities beyond ours who really want a voice that reflects them.”

Stegall, a former lawyer and Winter Olympian, has been a federal MP since 2019 after ousting former prime minister Tony Abbott in an electorate held by the Liberal Party for more than a century.

“We don’t want the infighting, we don’t want the blame game, we want solutions that will make a difference for us,” Stegall said.

The new party will “offer unity over division and offer reason rather than anger,” she said, an invitation to voters to “build the kind of Australia we want”.

The party’s key issues are housing affordability and cost of living, as well as climate change, childcare, education and health care.

The couple told local media that Climate 200, a political group that helped fund Liberals who won several liberal seats in recent elections, was not involved with the new party.

He said the new election fund laws allow political parties large budgets for election campaigns, which will hurt some independents.

Several other independents have said they won’t join, while two other “Tetal” independents are considering their options.

The party has submitted an application to the Australian Electoral Commission with registration expected to be completed in October.