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Kate Chaney has distanced herself, for now, from the new political party launched by former Teal colleagues Zali Steggall and Allegra Spender, saying she does not see any immediate benefit in joining Community Strong Australia (CSA).
Ms Steggall and Ms Spender announced CSA as a “permanent, community-powered political force”, but the launch left several key questions unresolved, including whether the party will ever have a leader. Ms Spender told Sky News the pair “don’t know” if CSA will adopt a leadership structure, joking that she and Ms Steggall were not about to settle it with an arm wrestle.
Curtin MP Kate Chaney said she regularly speaks with fellow crossbench MPs about how best to support democracy. However, she made clear that she still believes she can best serve her electorate as an independent.
“I still think that I can deliver a lot of value to my community as an independent and I’ll continue to do that and I couldn’t see any immediate benefit for my community or progressing the agenda to be part of a political party,” she said.
One major factor behind the formation of CSA is the new electoral reform package, which places tighter limits on individual candidates than on political parties. Independent candidates are capped at $800,000 in campaign spending, while political parties can also access a national campaign budget capped at $90 million. These changes have been criticised by crossbench MPs as making it harder for independents to compete with major parties.
Asked whether she might reconsider joining CSA closer to the next election, Ms Chaney said she would not completely rule it out.
“I think politicians get themselves into a lot of trouble by promising never to do things in the future – I certainly never expected to be in politics at all, so I wouldn’t rule it out in the future,” she said.
“It's true that the electoral reform package that the major parties push through will make it harder for independents to be elected. But at the moment it just doesn't seem like a priority for me. I really want to focus on the policy issues rather than thinking about political parties.”
Climate 200, which helped fund several Teal campaigns, is not involved in CSA, though Ms Steggall did not rule out donations from Simon Holmes à Court or former Climate 200 donors in the future. She said the party’s focus was on putting communities “at the heart” of politics.
Other crossbench MPs are split on the move. Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele and Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps are considering joining CSA, while Monique Ryan, Helen Haines and Andrew Wilkie have ruled it out.