Who are the Teals?

This is the third and final Deep Dive into the upcoming federal election, which is now just a couple of days away (if you missed the ones on Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton, you can find them here and here, respectively).

This post has also been the most challenging to write: the so-called independent Teals, while aligned on most issues, also have a few important policy differences, making it difficult to paint them all with the same brush.

But given there's a very good chance (90%) Labor wins re-election and that, if it's as a minority government, several Teals may hold the balance of power—forcing the government to negotiate with them to get their legislation passed—then it's probably worth learning a bit more about them!

Blue and green, or green and red?

There are seven Teals already in Parliament: Zali Steggall was elected in 2019, and was joined by Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan, Kate Chaney, Zoe Daniel, Kylea Tink, and Sophie Scamps in 2022.

All of them hold former blue-ribbon Liberal Party seats, hence the colour teal: they're supposedly blue (i.e. hold Liberal values) but with a green tinge, reflecting their major point of differentiation—the environment.

Essentially, affluent residents of inner city electorates who were frustrated with the Liberal Party's climate denialism but didn't want to swing all the way across to Labor or the Greens could, with a clear conscience, vote for a Teal instead. They would then basically get a local "independent" member that would vote yes for things like solar and wind subsidies and block new coal mines, while still siding with the Liberals on more traditional conservative issues.

However, their voting records suggest that's not how it worked out in practice. Despite not being a party, the Teals have a knack for voting in near-unison, and also tend to throw their support alongside the Greens and Labor significantly more often than they do the Liberals. I've shown Zali Steggall's voting record below because she's the only Teal to have served two terms, so has the most data available.

So, what explains the lack of unison with the Liberals given that the Teals occupy formerly blue-ribbon Liberal seats (surely there's just not that much environmental legislation out there for them to butt heads over)?

As the saying goes, when in doubt—follow the money! Perhaps a key reason why the Teals are more Greens' green than Liberal blue is because their advisors are mostly ex-Greens and Labor staffers, and they draw significant funding from a group called Climate 200, a political fundraising group bankrolled by the likes of Simon Holmes à Court and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes.

For those unaware, Holmes à Court—the son of Australia's first billionaire—has been active in politics for some time. Originally a member of Josh Frydenberg's Kooyong 200 group, he was expelled after he "wrote a column for The Guardian in early 2018, which included a line criticising Frydenberg for trying to keep NSW's Liddell [coal] power station open".

Holmes à Court is a big investor in renewables and green tech, and frequently speaks out in public in defence of his own portfolio—and against anything that might jeopardise it, including nuclear power.

As for Mike Cannon-Brookes, he was about as green as they come until he recently decided the charade was too difficult to maintain, buying himself a private jet to make it easier to watch the Utah Jazz (which he part-owns) and the Formula 1 team he sponsors as they travel the world.

With money flowing from big-name backers like those, the Teals' unity at the ballot box makes more sense—and their influence could grow further. Climate 200 is providing funding for at least 35 candidates in this weekend's election (not all of them are 'officially' Teals) and while most will inevitably fail in their bids, if their numbers grow by even a little, then they could have significant sway over the policies of whichever major party eventually forms government.

That's a big deal, so it's important to know where they stand on the issues that will shape the future direction of the Australian economy.

Where they stand

Despite being independents, the Teals have a few key policies in common. You can find them plastered over their how to vote cards, or on their billboards. For example, this is on Monique Ryan's 2025 card:

• Cost-of-living relief
• Housing affordability
• Climate action
• Integrity in government
• Education
• Health
• Tax reform

Not all of those were there in 2022, with the common themes being climate action, integrity, and the economy (which looks to have now been split out into housing, health, education, and reform).

Kate Chaney's 2025 card is similar:

• Housing affordability
• Business and the economy
• Cost of living relief
• Climate and energy
• Cleaning up politics
• Stronger communities

You get the gist—all themes against which no one could ever object unless their heart happened to be forged in the fires of Mount Doom.

But just because you've identified a problem doesn't mean your solutions will make it any better. So, let's take a closer look at where they really stand on some of these issues.

Climate and energy

The Teals' collective position on climate and energy was dreamt up in another era; a time of ultra-low rates that ensured governments could roll out green subsidies seemingly for free, and voters would barely blink an eye because the interest on Australia's growing debt was perfectly manageable.