Opinion: Beware the zeal for teal, it will bring US-style mayhem

The interference of billionaire bankrollers in Australia’s electoral process cannot end well, as has been seen in the US, writes Peter Gleeson.

One of the great things about Australia is our political system, where voters decide on who will be their representative.

Unlike the US, where money speaks all political languages, Australia has been largely free of people buying themselves into office.

Until now. In this election, we’ve seen the emergence of the billionaire bankrollers: Clive Palmer, Simon Holmes a Court and Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Now, they will argue they are spending up big on this election for all the right reasons – Clive wants Aussies to get back their freedom after the pandemic handcuffs, while Holmes a Court and Cannon-Brookes are there to save the planet.

But when super-wealthy individuals dip in to the electoral fray, it’s important to understand their motivation.

For Palmer, it’s about relevance and stirring the pot. The $100 million he is spending on this election is about livening up the debate, giving people a choice.

He seems himself as a patriot and he genuinely wants a better Australia. Palmer’s business interests and wealth will prosper whether his United Australia Party holds the balance of power, or it doesn’t. The money is irrelevant. He loses $100 million down the back of his lounge while watching Sky News.

However Holmes a Court and Cannon-Brookes come from a different perspective. Their zeal for teal is inextricably linked to how they do business.

Chasing 60 per cent renewable targets by 2030 – as several of the teal Independents want – is good for their business.

It’s bad for Australia, but good for those chasing renewable dollars.

Climate 200's Simon Holmes a Court

Even worse for Australia, their modus operandi, to crush the Liberal-National Party, is a recipe for disaster.

Since Federation, Australia has functioned as one of the world’s great democracies off the back of the Liberal National and Labor parties being in control.

The teal Independents will create chaos and mayhem. They won’t even tell Australians who they will support in a hung parliament, even though we know it will be the Labor Party.

They are disingenuous opportunists. Vote for them at your peril, Australia. With polling underway and the election next Saturday, a couple of final observations.

Does anybody really think cost-of-living pressures will ease under a high-taxing, big spending Labor Government?

It’s laughable that they say “we’ll keep inflation under control’’ by spending less and attacking the trillion dollar debt. They won’t. They can’t. It’s a con job. And had the Coalition not racked up enormous debt by keeping the economy functioning through welfare handouts during the pandemic, the ACTU and Labor would have screamed blue murder. You can’t have it both ways.

Second, why do we have a voting system where somebody like Josh Frydenberg will get a primary vote of 43-45 per cent, his teal opponent Monique Ryan will get 30 per cent, and she wins the seat on Labor preferences?

That means 15,000 more people want Frydenberg in Kooyong than Ryan, yet he loses – crazy.

And finally, people haven’t forgotten about the way the late Senator Kimberley Kitching was treated by her own colleagues, and the fact Labor won’t call an inquiry into the sordid affair. It remains an issue and many Australians will never forgive Labor for what happened.

Labor says it will do 53 reviews into government policy if it wins. The Senator Kitching death is not one of them. For Albo, maybe that’s “just not my job’’.

Originally published as Opinion: Beware the zeal for teal, it will bring US-style mayhem