Indies join to spoil the parties' party (26 Oct 2024)
The Post: WA's notorious development approval process will be the No.1 issue for a "Teal" campaign in the state seat of Nedlands, which includes Subiaco.
On Monday, federal independent MP Kate Chaney offered her encouragement to a group of locals who are trying to emulate her feat of winning a Liberal heartland seat.
"My advice for you is: Don't think that it's not possible," she told a crowd of about 50 at Hollywood Subiaco Bowling Club. "I love the work that you've done canvassing the different issues."
The Nedlands Teal group has not yet named a candidate, but campaigners have been laying the groundwork for next March's state election.
Organiser Graham Crooke told the gathered supporters that volunteers had surveyed more than 300 people about their policy priorities. Development approvals, integrity in government, and the environment were top of voter's minds, he said. "They say you should only talk about three issues, so we're going to talk about these ones," he said.
Susan Stevens, another organiser, said a Teal MP would push to allow affected neighbours of high-rise developments to challenge their approvals in court. "We are the only state in Australia that does not have these rights legislated," she said. "There is no appetite by the government nor the Liberal Party to legislate for change."
Several supporters at Monday's forum, including Dr Crooke and Ms Stevens, live close to the construction site of a controversial aged-care development in Nedlands. Oryx Communities' five-storey facility was the first development approved by the WA Planning Commission under new powers despite 593 objections.
Monday's forum came two days after NSW Teal candidate Jacqui Scruby won the state seat of Pittwater in a by-election.
Organiser Alex Shepherd said the campaign was "buoyed" by the result. "It happened in Pittwater, it can happen here too," she said.
Ms Chaney steered clear of planning issues and talked instead about how her efforts to ban gambling ads had been stymied by the two major parties. "I saw the full gamut of how the political process works," she said. "We've built these machines that are optimised to winning elections. "I don't think the party system is serving us."
Dr Crooke told the POST the Nedlands Teal group was close to announcing its candidate for the March state election. Labor's Katrina Stratton won the seat on the back of the McGowan landslide in 2021, ending 90 years of uninterrupted conservative representation. Dr Stratton will run for an Upper House seat in next year's poll.
The Liberal Party has preselected Jonathan Huston, a successful businessman and former army intelligence officer.
