Are North Shore Independents ready to party?

Independent members of the crossbench — including three northern suburbs MPs — are split on the question of forming a political party.

Warringah MP Zali Steggall told the Lorikeet she was “open to exploring new ways for the [community independent] movement to evolve”, while North Shore MPs Nicolette Boele and Sophie Scamps have left the option on the table. However, Victoria’s Monique Ryan and Western Australia’s Kate Chaney have ruled out joining any political party. 

Phoebe Hayman is an academic at La Trobe University who is currently finishing a PhD analysing the campaigns of Independent candidates in Australia. 

She says much of the support for community Independent candidates has been on the basis of their freedom from the party structure and connection to local communities. 

• “Community independent” is a broad label applied to independent candidates — at the state and federal level — who are endorsed by organisations such as the “Voices Of” groups (Voices of Bradfield, Voices of Berowra), the Community Independents Project and the Regional Voices Fund.
  

• Several MPs and senators, including Dai Le, Bob Katter and Lidia Thorpe, are  independent from major parties but not part of this movement.

A party against parties: If independents were to form an official political alliance, Hayman said they would need a strong argument to convince local voters that they wouldn't be compromised by having to follow a party line.

“Most voters in Australia are used to the way Australian parties work, which is through a very, very strict form of party discipline — we are kind of unusual, internationally, in how strict our party discipline is.” 

Bringing current elected community Independents under one banner would itself be hugely challenging, but courting potential defectors from major parties would add another layer of complexity.

“Most parties have vetting processes, processes that they put in place for candidate selection,” Hayman said.

“For the community Independents, that's all happened at the community level. Each local Voices Of — or similar kind of community group — has decided how it wants to go about finding, identifying and endorsing a candidate.

“What that then looks like when you have an overarching party is a really interesting question.”

Hayman said the Independents would not only need to convince local voters, but the true believer volunteers who pound the pavement.

Zali Steggall told the Lorikeet on Monday that if a political alliance were to form between crossbenchers, the concept of a party could not be approached “in the traditional sense”. 

“Australia does not need another model like the Labor Party, where members are constrained by caucus discipline and too often unable to speak freely or genuinely reflect the needs and aspirations of the people who elected them.”

Boele onboard? In a statement, Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele said she wasn’t opposed to the idea. 

“Whether or not my efforts on behalf of Bradfield are best achieved through a formal alliance of community independents is genuinely open for discussion,” she said.

Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps told the Lorikeet she would be “consulting closely with my community before making any major decisions”.