Teal independents
Teal independents, also known as teals and community independents, are various centrist, independent or non-party politicians in Australian politics who have been grouped together for convenience of discussion by the Australian media and who have found electoral success contesting seats with a history of representatives coming from the Liberal Party of Australia. They have been characterised as strongly advocating for increased action to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions along with improved political integrity and accountability. They also generally share socially liberal outlooks, including on issues such as LGBT rights, while still retaining conservative fiscal policies similar to the Liberals. While formally unaffiliated, a study has found that the teals often vote in a bloc and show significant cohesion.
The colour teal has been interpreted by some journalists as a blend of the blue of the Liberal Party and the green of green politics, and was a dominant feature of campaign branding used by high-profile independent candidates Zali Steggall, Allegra Spender, Monique Ryan, Kate Chaney, Zoe Daniel and Sophie Scamps; however, not all candidates used the colour. The movement can be understood as ideological split from the Liberal Party – with inner city voters moving away from the party.
The most significant impact of candidates usually described in this grouping came in the 2022 Australian federal election, with 7 seats won in the House of Representatives and one Senate seat. The teals mostly consolidated their position at the 2025 Australian federal election, with Nicolette Boele winning the Sydney seat of Bradfield and Zoe Daniel losing the seat of Goldstein in Melbourne.
History
By 2018, support for the traditional major groupings, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal–National Coalition, was wavering. At the 2016 election, just over a quarter of voters were voting for minor parties or independents for the Senate. The Grattan Institute published a report in March 2018 labelled 'A Crisis of Trust', detailing the rise of an 'anyone but them' vote against the major parties and the rise of minor parties as a consequence, particularly in regional areas. Critically, over 70% of Australians surveyed believed that Australia's system of government needed reform. MP for Curtin Kate Chaney said of the 2018 Liberal Party leadership spill and election: "I certainly think that when the Liberal Party knocked back Julie Bishop and chose Scott Morrison instead, it was a sliding-doors moment for the Australian Liberal Party", "a lot of women looked at that point and thought, 'this does not look like a party that represents me'", which helped create the teals movement.2013–2019
Cathy McGowan in Indi electorate, Victoria
The Community Independents Project was originated by constituents of the Division of Indi in rural Victoria, who prepared a report about issues in their electorate. Then-MP Sophie Mirabella of the Liberal Party was largely dismissive of the report, causing the group Voices for Indi to be formed, with the aim of making Indi a marginal seat and forcing Mirabella to preferences. Voices for Indi, which chose not to become a party to avoid excluding large portions of the electorate who held loyalties to political parties, endorsed Cathy McGowan. Initially, Voices for Indi was reluctant to go public and instead chose to meet discreetly at Wangaratta Library, as Mirabella had a history of making personal attacks against opponents, with then-retiring independent MP Tony Windsor describing Mirabella as "the nastiest—I reckon if you put it to a vote to all politicians, she'd come up No. 1." Windsor's comment, prompted by a question on Insiders regarding what he would miss the most about federal politics, went viral both online and in local newspapers. McGowan ran a strong grassroots campaign, managing to raise $117,000 AUD and mobilising members of the local community for campaigning. Mirabella also caused controversy when she took credit for multiple health-related projects in Indi, where she had done minimal campaigning, instead leaving it to the local community. McGowan won the seat at the 2013 election. McGowan retired from parliament at the 2019 federal election and Voices for Indi campaigned for Helen Haines to succeed McGowan. Haines was successful in her election, becoming the first independent in Australian history to succeed another independent.Sandy Bolton in Noosa electorate, Queensland
In 2017, Sandy Bolton was elected as an independent member for the state electorate of Noosa, running on a platform of climate change and local issues. She was re-elected in 2020 and 2024.Kerryn Phelps in Wentworth electorate, NSW
Prior to the 2018 Wentworth by-election, Kerryn Phelps, a councillor of the City of Sydney, had been considering a run at the lord mayorality of Sydney, including discussing campaign design and management, when she decided to run for Wentworth. Phelps ran a grassroots campaign similar to McGowan's. Phelps won the seat of Wentworth on a 19% swing towards her, succeeding former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and forcing Turnbull's successor as prime minister, Scott Morrison, into a minority government. The result was attributed to the dumping of Turnbull, a popular local member and moderate, by the party's conservative wing, as prime minister in favour of Morrison. Climate change was also cited as a key factor in Phelps's win, which conservatives in the Liberal Party had pushed to weaken emission reduction laws. Similar to McGowan, Phelps benefitted from large numbers of campaign volunteers. The result forced the Morrison government into a minority government, requiring the support of a member of the crossbench to pass legislation in the House of Representatives. At the 2019 election, seven months later, Phelps lost the seat to the Liberals' Dave Sharma, who had narrowly lost to Phelps at the 2018 by-election. Simon Holmes à Court, founder of fundraising group Climate 200, expressed anger that he did not invest in Phelps' campaign sufficiently, stating that Climate 200 was "kicking ourselves afterwards that we had under-invested in Kerryn's campaign," and that he believed that a few thousand dollars in additional funding would have resulted in Phelps retaining the seat.Zali Steggall in Warringah electorate, NSW
Before the 2019 election, a series of community groups, most prominently Vote Tony Out and Voices of Warringah, formed with the intention to eject former prime minister Tony Abbott out of his safe seat of Warringah. Abbott had generated controversy for his climate denialism. He had once called the science behind climate change "crap". Abbott has also been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, at odds with his electorate, where over 75% of voters in Warringah supported same-sex marriage at the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, leading to criticism that he was 'out of touch with his electorate'. They began a search for a pro-climate, centrist candidate similar to Phelps. Journalists Peter FitzSimons and Lisa Wilkinson, Warringah locals, were approached to run for the seat, however both declined. Scientist and environmentalist Tim Flannery had also discussed running for Warringah with community groups, however he never ran.On New Year's Day, 2019, former alpine skier, bronze medallist at the 1998 Winter Olympics, and lawyer, Zali Steggall, appeared in a 'Vote Tony Out' T-shirt, created by the community group of the same name. Three weeks later, Steggall announced she was running for Warringah, at a rally organised by Vote Tony Out and Voices of Warringah. At the rally, Steggall outlined her key campaign promises, including climate change action, human rights issues, mental health and domestic violence. Steggall benefitted from the backing of several community groups, including Vote Tony Out and Voices of Warringah, as well as the prominent activist group GetUp!, who had vowed to remove Abbott from his seat. During the campaign, Abbott struggled to garner funding, being over $50,000 AUD short of his $150,000 funding goal just two weeks out from the election, a large number of pro-Steggall campaign posters, billboards and clothing, and a grassroots campaign with strong funding sources. Steggall was able to garner over $1.1 million in donations, including Climate 200, bankrolled by Holmes à Court and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes. Steggall was successful in unseating Abbott, stating that Warringah had "voted for the future".
Post–2020
The 2021 March 4 Justice has been cited as a key catalyst of the teal movement, organised as a result of the 2021 sexual misconduct allegations, most prominently Brittany Higgins' allegation of being raped at Parliament House, and Morrison government frontbencher Christian Porter's confirmation that he had been named in a historic rape allegation. Morrison received criticism for his apparent need to talk to his wife, Jenny, before responding to the protests. He generated further controversy after refusing, along with his Minister for Women, Marise Payne, to publicly speak to the March 4 Justice protesters, who had surrounded Parliament House. Morrison had lost significant support among women in the leadup to the 2022 election; an Australian Financial Review Ipsos poll had shown that one in three women were voting for Morrison. Social commentator and key campaigner for the teal movement, Jane Caro, stated that she "absolutely a direct line from the March 4 Justice to the success of the teals."Climate 200 was revived ahead of the 2022 election by Holmes à Court, to "try to level the playing field for independents once more". Holmes à Court had veteran campaigner Anthony Reid and Byron Fay, a Paris Agreement negotiator who would later become CEO of Climate 200, run a review into Climate 200's first iteration, for the 2019 election, before re-creating it.
Influenced by the corresponding groups in Indi and Warringah, a number of Voices groups organised before the 2022 election, around issues relating to the environment and political integrity.