Crossbench MPs defend track record on climate, integrity, HECs, as Coalition goes on the attack

Teal MPs have hit back after the opposition accusing them of claiming credit for Labor policies in a sign they’re “struggling to prove their relevance” ahead of the election.

The Coalition is turning the heat up on inner-city “teal” MPs, accusing them of claiming credit for Labor policies in a sign they’re “struggling to prove their relevance” ahead of the election.

As first-term crossbench MPs seek to firm up support in their once-blue ribbon Liberal lower house seats, the opposition is sharpening its attack on their parliamentary track record by questioning their “achievements”.

Hitting back at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton after he suggested the MPs had nothing concrete to show for their time in office, Climate 200 — the campaigning body that helped bankroll many independent candidates in 2022 — released a new video on Thursday touting their accomplishments.

These “achievements” included federal budget measures, HECS debt relief, stage three tax cut changes and Labor’s commitment to create a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

“(Mr) Dutton seems to have forgotten the power of independents,” Climate 200 digital co-ordinator Hayden O’Connor told supporters.

Zoe Daniel, Sophie Scamps, Zali Steggall, Allegra Spender, Kylea Tink and Monique Ryan all hold electorates once considered to be safe Liberal seats. Picture: NCA NewsWire

But Queensland Coalition MP Garth Hamilton has returned fire, arguing the crossbench MPs are “so Labor-aligned they actually think they are Labor”.

“For a party that campaigned on integrity they have made hypocrites of themselves,” he said.

Garth Hamilton says the teal MPs are hypocrites.

Mr Hamilton said election pledges like the NACC would have happened regardless of the lower house crossbench and should not be characterised as wins by the teal “party”.

“This is deliberate deception by a party that is struggling to prove its relevance,” he said.

But Kooyong MP Monique Ryan said independents had worked “constructively” with all sides, pointing to her petition on HECS debt relief gaining 288,000 signatures as an example of how she “gets results”.

“It’s clear to anyone watching that I have achieved more for my community than Peter Dutton has in his term,” she said.

Monique Ryan says it’s hypocritical of the Coalition to attack the crossbench when their own track record is only negative. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel said the Coalition had “entirely missed” important amendments moved by crossbench members.

“I convinced the government, as it has acknowledged, to make it explicit that the legislated target of 43 per cent reduction to carbon emissions was a floor, not a ceiling,” she said.

Ms Daniel said changes were achieved not “by magic” but through “reasoned, constructive involvement from the crossbench”.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has questioned the achievements of the crossbench MPs. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Wentworth MP Allegra Spender said that she, in parliament, had sought to “step above the political sledging” of the major parties.

“New vehicle efficiency standards and a billion dollar investment in home electrification wouldn’t have happened without the crossbench,” she said.

Warringah MP Zali Steggall, who ousted former prime minister Tony Abbott in 2019, said the crossbench support for the NACC, pushing Labor on HECS changes, stronger climate action and improvements to the single parent payment were “reforms the Coalition did not have the political courage to address”.

Ms Steggall said her crossbench colleagues had “shaken politics up” by ending the concept of a “safe seat” forcing a greater focus on local communities.

“Now that’s a real win for the Australian public,” she said.