Things are hotting up in Goldstein, the federal electorate that Modern Liberal Tim Wilson is hoping to wrest back from Zoe Daniel, the former ABC foreign correspondent turned teal independent.
Doing the rounds is a photo of what some are taking to be an incriminating piece of political millinery – a MAGA hat worn by a Wilson supporter.
A happy snap taken last week at Mr Brightside cafe in Caulfield South reveals a sea of Liberal blue as Wilson supporters gathered in the presence of the great man himself for tea and crumpets as they strategised how to keep the flame of Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People alive.
Tim Wilson supporters gather last week at Mr Brightside cafe in South Caulfield, with one sporting a purported MAGA cap.
One of the supporters is sporting a cap in regulation Trumpian red inscribed with “MAGA”. Or is he?
MAGA caps seem to appeal to the more red meat sections of the Liberal Party base. More Dutton than Wilson, so it was a surprise to see one popping up in Melbourne’s genteel bayside suburbs. And to complicate matters, there is a line of merchandise proving popular online which could be called “Aussie MAGA – Make Albo Go Away”.
Kerry Milligan from Gogglebox Australia.Credit: Network Ten
In a position unusual for a politician of his loquaciousness, Wilson maintained a monastic vow of silence and referred inquires to the Liberal Party
So to head office we went. “We always encourage our volunteers to wear blue – definitely not the Labor colour – however from time to time the odd ‘Make Albo Go Away’ hat may be seen out-and-about,” a spokesman said.
While this column was digesting such matters another photograph pinged into our phone showing prominent Daniel supporter Kerry Milligan, who gained Melebrity status from her appearance on TV program Gogglebox, transgressing party lines attending the St Kilda Pride parade and hugging local MP Josh Burns, who is, gasp, a Labor MP.
“Josh is an old family friend,” Milligan told CBD when we contacted her.
Received with thanks
For Peter Dutton to have a real shot at making Albo a one-term prime minister, he’ll have to dislodge a few of the well-funded teal independents who swept the Liberals from their heartland seats at the 2022 election. But three years later, on the eve of election 2025, the teals’ financial muscle is only growing stronger.
Teal appeal: Independent MPs Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall, Sophie Scamps, Zoe Daniel and Monique Ryan.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Donations data for the 2023-24 financial year released by the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday revealed the teals’ ballooning war chest. Each of the teals received a significant bump in donations compared with the previous year. And a significant bump in donors.
Even in the realm of political donations, there is a first among equals. Kooyong’s Josh Frydenberg slayer Dr Monique Ryan received an astonishing $681,218 in donations from 486 donors, soaring past the $135,150 (from 220 donors) she got in 2022-23. Teal godfather Simon Holmes a Court’s Climate 200 fund was a notable donor, while Lisa Barlow, heiress to 7-Eleven’s Australian dynasty, chipped in an easy $100,000 in October 2023. A Slurpee fund rather than a slush fund, we guess.
Donations to Wentworth MP Allegra Spender jumped from $317,803 to $576,226 in the past financial year, thanks again to Climate 200 and companies linked to venture capitalist James Taylor and investor Fred Woollard, both regular teal donors.
Those Google and Meta ads which Spender and Ryan have been forking out for aren’t going to pay for themselves!
Meanwhile, Zoe Daniel also cashed in with $374,010 in donations, a dramatic increase from the $12,468 she got the year before. That’s a heck of a lot of election corflutes.
Only fair to note that MPs from the major parties don’t have their individual donations listed.
But if this is how much the teals were getting during a non-election year, it’s no surprise that their mere existence still cause Liberals to foam at the mouth. When the next disclosures roll round in 12 months’ time, those figures are going to be a whole lot higher.
What’s behind the fundraising boom? Well one explanation came from a spokesperson for Spender, who told us: “Community members offered additional support to Allegra after the government reduced office resourcing to independent MPs.”
This too, it seems, is Albo’s fault.
Starting afresh
One of leading lights of the great Guardian Australia Canberra bureau exodus was live federal politics blogger par excellence Amy Remeikis, who pitched up at the Australia Institute think tank.
To do what became a little clearer on Monday, the first sitting day of the federal parliamentary calendar, when The Australia Institute launched a live federal politics blog, with Remeikis, the think tank’s chief political analyst at the helm.
Remeikis for her part told us that more eyes on democracy was a good thing, and had good wishes for the new Guardian team.
Amy Remeikis is helming a live politics blog for The Australia Institute.
Regular readers will recall that there was what could only be described as a mass exodus in 2024, kicked off by political editor Katharine Murphy’s exit to join Anthony Albanese’s office, before Remeikis, political reporter Daniel Hurst and veteran political photographer Mike Bowers all departed in quick succession, capped off by chief political correspondent Paul Karp.
After a number of thinly veiled social media posts, this masthead reported Karp and Murphy’s replacement, Karen Middleton, had slung complaints at each other. In his exit, Karp claimed he was leaving with a “clean record”.
Finally, some welcome news for Guardian Australia editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor. Only a few weeks after Karp joined the Australian Financial Review as NSW political correspondent, she has managed to poach that paper’s Canberra bureau chief, Tom McIlroy, as his replacement.
CBD has learnt that members of the outfit’s federal politics team flew to Sydney on Sunday ahead of the oncoming storm of the federal election campaign for scheduled planning meetings. And who knows, maybe a bonding session as well.
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