Allegra Spender’s route to becoming an independent MP in the federal seat of Wentworth in Sydney was a roundabout one and taught her about the power of putting yourself forward and following your passions.

Spender, a former McKinsey consultant, was in the Whitsunday Islands about 10 years ago with a friend who worked in renewable energy. She said she would interested in helping him, and a year later he rang and asked her to get involved in the Sydney Renewable Power Company. a community-owned renewable energy retailer in northern NSW, that she ended up chairing.