Zali Steggall: ‘I won’t make empty promises’ in Tony Abbott battle
Former Olympian Zali Steggall has said she will not rush into making promises she cannot keep as she attempts to bring down Tony Abbott.
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Former Olympian Zali Steggall has said she will not rush into making promises she cannot keep as she attempts to bring down Tony Abbott.
The former world champion skier said people are fed up with Mr Abbott’s “empty promises” and vowed to consult experts on complex issues instead of making “glib” statements.
She said her campaign would largely focus on climate change, mental health, domestic violence, transport and roads.
But rather than having concrete policies she has vowed to take advice from experts on “complex” issues.
“I don’t want to make promises that I can’t deliver,” the 44-year-old, from Balgowlah, said.
“The way to go about it is to get the experts involved and to really consult with everybody so we can find a solution.”
Referencing the Beaches Link Tunnel, she said: “I can give you a line saying that I’m going to ‘accelerate the process of the tunnel’ which is what Mr Abbott is saying. But the reality is he’s promised that for a number of elections.”
She said Mr Abbott was out of touch with the electorate on climate change, which will be near the top of her agenda.
“His response was ‘well, we’re only responsible for 1.3 per cent of global emissions so why bother?’
“Firstly that’s not true and the reality is that it’s a global issue.
“The consequences of global warming will not discriminate and say, ‘well, Australia, you only cause 1.3 per cent so you’ll only be impacted by 1.3 per cent’.”
She also slammed Prime Minister Scott Morrison for his stance on the environment.
“We need to be having sensible discussions and there is Scott Morrison taking a lump of coal into parliament,” she said.
“What kind of message does that send our kids at school about their future?”
If elected Ms Steggall said she would also push for more funding for mental health and domestic violence.
“As a mum of teenagers I find the statistics really scary,” she said of mental health.
“It is a real issue how much access to services we have for the more vulnerable members of our society.”
She described statistics on domestic violence as “unacceptable” adding: “How can we can let that permeate through our society.
“We are modern, equal society and yet we have such horrendous statistics. We need to look at what other countries are doing.”
She compared her battle to unseat Abbott to her early days as a beach-dwelling Aussie travelling to the heartlands of European winter sports and trying to take on athletes who had grown up on the slopes.
“It was a pretty crazy dream to think I could make it to the Winter Olympics but I was determined.
“At the end of the day you can’t control others in a race.
“But you can control what you do.
“And you can control how well prepared you are, how you approach the event.
“That’s all I can do. I can put myself out there and offer people a choice.”
A number of other independents have already announced they will challenge Mr Abbott.
Among them are former Malcolm Turnbull staffer Alice Thompson and indigenous broadcaster Susan Moylan-Coombs.
Many predict this will play into the incumbent’s hands with the anti-Abbott vote being split.
“If people that want change are concerned that the independents are going to fracture the situation there’s one really easy way to take care of that and that’s by giving me your vote,” she said.
Manly born Ms Steggall enjoyed a distinguished career as an athlete and represented Australia in alpine skiing. She won bronze at the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics and won gold at the world championships in 1999.
Following her retirement from the sport she became a barrister.
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