‘Teal’ MP Sophie Scamps calls for local donations, volunteers to kickstart re-election campaign
A “teal” MP, backed by a group founded by the son of Australia’s first billionaire, is calling on grassroots supporters to donate cash to kickstart her campaign as she looks to thwart a Liberal comeback.
Manly
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A “teal” MP, backed by fundraising giant founded by the son of Australia’s first billionaire, is calling on grassroots supporters to donate cash to kickstart her campaign as she looks to thwart a Liberal comeback at next year’s federal election.
Sophie Scamps, who received $700,000 from Climate 200 in the lead-up to the 2022 election, is inviting locals to chip in to help her bid to hold on to the former blue-ribbon conservative northern beaches seat of Mackellar.
The call for local support coincides with Climate 200 confirming on Monday it would again give Dr Scamps financial support for her 2025 re-election campaign. It would not comment yet on how much money it would contribute.
Climate 200, founded by millionaire businessman Simon Holmes a Court, collects donations from others and then uses that money to support candidates it believes are “committed to a science-based approach to climate change and to restoring integrity in politics”.
In the 2022 race, where she defeated sitting Liberal Jason Falinski, almost half of Dr Scamps’ $1.6m in donations came from Climate 200.
As part of the current fundraising drive, Dr Scamps is also inviting people to sign up as regular contributors by joining her “founding supporters” and donating a minimum of $1500 annually for three years to help her work as an “independent voice” in parliament.
“Join the community of founding supporters investing monthly or annually in sustainable independent representation for Mackellar,” her website states.
She told supporters in an email last week that the victory of independent Jacqui Scruby, over the Liberals in the recent Pittwater state by-election, showed the “momentum for community independents is as strong as ever”.
Dr Scamps told this masthead an early start to her campaign would benefit from the wave of support for Ms Scruby and stifle any possible “misinformation” tactics that may be used by her political opponents.
Dr Scamps said as well as donations, she wanted to sign up more campaign volunteers.
“A strong democracy needs the participation of its people,” she said.
“There are lots of different ways people can get involved and help.
“It might be with donations, it might be with time, it might be by chatting with people or having conversations with your family.
“I think people really want to be a part of their democracy.
“The more people involved in their democracy, the more robust and stronger it is.”
Money raised would go towards supplying Dr Scamps’ campaign volunteers and supporters with teal T-shirts, hats, posters, and banners.
She said early advertising on TV, bus shelters and billboards would help get her message out.
“We have to act quickly before the Liberal Party has a candidate or a campaign, and the attacks start,” she said.
Dr Scamps said her campaign would remind voters of her achievements in her first term in parliament.
She said these included protecting the environment by helping stiffen laws protecting water resources from gas fracking, and pushing for cost of living relief and better health services.
The MP also said her push to ban TV and radio junk food advertising between 6am and 9.30pm had prompted a government-funded study, while a bill targeted at stopping “jobs for mates” had ended party-political appointments to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
Dr Scamps said her upcoming work would include introducing a “wellbeing of future generations bill, designed to end “short-term” decision-making by governments, in February.
She said it was modelled on a law in Wales that forced public agencies in areas like health, transport and the arts work more closely when making decisions that could affect the wellbeing of citizens in generations to come.
Locally, Dr Scamps said she had lobbied the state government on the shortage of youth mental health beds at Northern Beaches Hospital, halting the proposed redevelopment of land at Belrose Lizard Rock, and the upgrades of Wakehurst Parkway and Mona Vale Rd.
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