{"id":752331,"date":"2026-06-22T06:41:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T06:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/752331\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T06:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T06:41:15","slug":"zali-steggall-expected-to-launch-teal-party-after-months-of-secret-talks-australian-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/752331\/","title":{"rendered":"Zali Steggall expected to launch teal party after months of secret talks | Australian politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zali Steggall is poised to launch a new political venture as soon as this week after months of secret talks about the future of the teal movement.<\/p>\n

But it may be a party for one, at least initially, as the prospect of a \u201cteal party\u201d continues to divide crossbench MPs.<\/p>\n

A month after reports emerged of advanced talks between teal MPs about forming a new political alliance<\/a>, Guardian Australia has been told an official announcement is expected as soon as this week.<\/p>\n

As first reported in the Australian Financial Review<\/a> (AFR), Steggall last week briefed teal MPs and prominent members of the independents movement about the case for banding together.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

The Warringah MP\u2019s presentation included polling and an explanation of the benefits of operating in a party structure, according to sources briefed on the project.<\/p>\n

The discussions started after Labor and the Coalition last year teamed up to legislate new electoral laws \u2013 including spending and donation caps<\/a> \u2013 that disadvantaged independents.<\/p>\n

But the talks have intensified over the past six months as the rise of One Nation forces MPs to consider the best approach to remain relevant in the shifting political landscape.<\/p>\n

Steggall declined to comment when contacted by Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n

The winter Olympian laid out the case for a new party in an opinion piece last week for the AFR<\/a>, arguing \u201cAustralians have changed, and our politics needs to keep up\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe success of the community independent movement suggests voters want politicians who are more accountable, more local and more responsive to their needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next chapter may not be about choosing between independents and parties, but combining the strengths of both.\u201d<\/p>\n

The structure of the mooted alliance is unclear although Steggall\u2019s op-ed suggested it would differ from the \u201ctop-down\u201d model of the major parties and candidates would be chosen by their communities.<\/p>\n

Any party would likely target seats in the Senate, where crossbenchers have a greater chance of holding the balance of power and therefore influencing legislation.<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia has been told Steggall\u2019s fellow Sydney-based colleagues \u2013 Allegra Spender, Sophie Scamps and Nicolette Boele \u2013 are open to the idea without publicly committing to it.<\/p>\n

But Monique Ryan and Kate Chaney are firmly against.<\/p>\n

Ryan reaffirmed her position when asked on Monday if she would join the \u201cteal alliance\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I think Australians are understandably really fed up with political parties and that\u2019s why they\u2019re looking for other alternatives. I don\u2019t have any intention of joining a party. I\u2019m very, very happy as an independent,\u201d the Kooyong MP told Nine\u2019s Today Show.<\/p>\n

Boele said she would have a \u201cgenuinely open conservation\u201d with voters in her Sydney seat of Bradfield about whether her policy goals \u2013 particularly on climate action \u2013 were best pursued as an independent or as a member of a party.<\/p>\n

Teal sources expect Steggall to make the announcement herself but leave the door open for others to join closer to the next federal election, which is due in early 2028.<\/p>\n

The opposition leader, Angus Taylor<\/a>, mocked the imminent announcement by claiming the teal MPs had long operated as a de facto political party.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were launched years ago. They\u2019ve been around for a long while,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The independent MP, Andrew Wilkie, who is not considered a \u201cteal\u201d, also ruled out joining the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoining a party is not how I roll. All strength to those who might start a party, and I hope it is a success, and I hope it brings more political power to the crossbench, and can more effectively hold the government to account. But again, it\u2019s not how I roll,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Zali Steggall is poised to launch a new political venture as soon as this week after months of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-752331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}