Steggall and Spender form Community Strong Australia party

Warringah MP Zali Steggall has announced the launch of Community Strong Australia, a political party that will include fellow Independent crossbencher Allegra Spender. 

What happened: Murmurs of a party for Independents to officially rally together in have been consistent for months. Last week, Steggall released a statement indicating an announcement was imminent. 

Why now? Steggall has previously cited the rise of One Nation and rightward lurch of the Liberal Party as motivating factors for the formation of a party. 

However, the most significant factor is likely Labor’s impending political donation reforms, which Steggall has claimed will disadvantage independent politicians who are unable to pool resources.

• These reforms are set to come into effect at the end of this year.

Who else? Bradfield MP Nicolette Boele has declined to join the party, claiming she will remain independent. 

“That is the mandate Bradfield gave me, and any decision to change that belongs to my community, not to a press conference” she said in a statement.

However, Boele said she expects to work with Community Strong Australia on policy.

What they said: In a statement, Steggall said that “by running candidates in the Senate, Community Strong Australia offers Warringah the chance to double its impact in Parliament”.

How it works: The party does not have a single parliamentary leader. Members of the party are free to vote on policy as they wish, except when voting on supply, where the party votes as a bloc. 

• A vote of supply is when members of parliament vote to allow the government to spend money and keep public services running.