Independent Australian MPs form new centrist political party

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

The Strong Community Australia party, launched in Canberra on Thursday, will offer “unity over division, reason over anger”, will not have a leader and will allow members to vote freely rather than party lines.

Two members of the group – Sydney MPs Zali Steggall and Allegra Spend – form a group of independent MPs known as “oranges” who share socially liberal values ​​and want more climate action.

The pair said the party would offer an “alternative political force” to the current two-party system in Australia.

Australia’s political landscape has traditionally been dominated by two major parties; the centre-left Labor Party and the conservative-leaning Liberal-National Coalition.

Labor won a landslide victory in last year’s federal election, securing a second term in power; The coalition suffered its worst defeat yet, and months of conflict followed.

Recent months have seen a surge in support for the right-wing One Nation party led by Pauline Hanson; a poll found him the preferred prime minister.

Asked whether the recent surge in support for One Nation and its anti-immigration rhetoric had led to the decision to form a new party, Steggall and Spend said they were acting on what their voters told them.

“We definitely hear those complaints,” Spending said. “People are sick and tired of the status quo,” he said, adding that “if I wasn’t in politics I wouldn’t know who to vote for.”

Spending, who won his seat in 2022, said the party wanted to “hear from communities beyond our own who want a voice that truly reflects them.”

Steggall, a former lawyer and Winter Olympics player, has been a federal MP since 2019 after unseating former prime minister Tony Abbott in an electorate the Liberal Party had held for more than a century.

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

He said the new party “offers unity over division, reason over anger” and is an “invitation” to voters to “come and build the kind of Australia we want”.

Key issues for the party will be housing affordability and cost-of-living pressures, as well as climate change, child care, education and healthcare.

The pair also told local media that Climate 200, a political organization that funds independents who won many Liberal seats in the last election, was unrelated to the new party.

New election finance laws give political parties a much larger budget for campaigning, which some independents say will disadvantage them.

While some other independents have refused to participate, two other “orange” independents are also considering their options.

The party has applied to the Australian Electoral Commission and registration is expected to be completed in October.