Tom Minear: Teal independents could be left with no bargaining power if Labor or the Coalition govern in their own right

The ‘teal independents’ have been thrust into the spotlight during the election campaign – but if elected their views may become irrelevant.

Dr Monique Ryan. Picture : NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Here’s the thing about electing independent MPs — whether they are influential or irrelevant is ultimately beyond their control.

Throughout the campaign, the prospect of a hung parliament has loomed large. This has thrust the teal candidates challenging moderate Liberals into the spotlight, because any of them could become the deciding vote on who wins the election.

In response, the absence of detail about their policy positions has been telling.

Across the board, those backed by Climate 200 have common views about the need to tackle climate change, create an anti-corruption commission and deliver gender equality. These issues would be their priority if they were required to negotiate with Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison about confidence and supply in the parliament.

Dr Monique Ryan is running as an independent for the seat of Kooyong. Picture: Ian Currie

But what then? How would they vote on legislation on income tax or national security or religious discrimination?

Their supporters argue it is unreasonable to expect independents to offer comprehensive policy platforms. That may be so, but it should not prevent them answering questions about their beliefs — especially given they have put transparency at the heart of their pitch to voters.

We are instead left to discern more from the unsanitised details we learn about them.

Like that Monique Ryan was a Labor Party member who professed her appreciation for their leaders long after she left, or that Zoe Daniel signed a letter accusing Israel of maintaining an “apartheid regime against Palestinians”.

Monique Ryan posing with a picture of Gough Whitlam.

They are campaigning in teal T-shirts, suggesting they represent a comfortable shift for Liberal voters from the blue of Josh Frydenberg and Tim Wilson. But the reality is quite different.

The other side of the coin is these independents could win Kooyong and Goldstein — as the Herald Sun’s YouGov poll forecast this week — and Labor or the Coalition could still govern in their own right, leaving them with no bargaining power.

That would be a rude shock to constituents accustomed to having representatives in a position to get things done for them.