Things are hotting up in Goldstein, the electorate that “modern Liberal” Tim Wilson is hoping to wrest back from Zoe Daniel, the former ABC foreign correspondent turned teal independent.
Doing the rounds is what some are taking to be an incriminating piece of political millinery – a MAGA hat worn by a Wilson supporter.
Tim Wilson – modern Liberal or MAGA Liberal?
A happy snap taken last week at a local cafe reveals a sea of Liberal blue from Wilson supporters gathered in the presence of the great man himself, as they strategised to keep the flame of Robert Menzies’ Forgotten People alive.
One of the supporters is sporting a cap in regulation Trumpian red inscribed with “MAGA”.
Or is he?
Tim Wilson supporters gathering in a Melbourne cafe, with one sporting a purported MAGA cap.
MAGA caps seem to appeal to the more red-meat sections of the Liberal Party base. More Dutton than Wilson, so it was a surprise to see one popping up in Melbourne’s genteel Bayside suburbs. And to complicate matters, there is a line of merchandise proving popular online which could be called “Aussie MAGA – Make Albo Go Away”.
In a position unusual for a politician of his loquaciousness, Wilson maintained a monastic vow of silence and referred enquires to the Liberal Party.
So to head office we went. “We always encourage our volunteers to wear blue – definitely not the Labor colour – however from time to time the odd ‘Make Albo Go Away’ hat may be seen out-and-about,” a spokesman said.
That headpiece, first spotted by CBD at a Peter Dutton fundraiser last year, seems to be catching on.
Moneyball
For Peter Dutton to have a real shot at making Albo a one-term prime minister, he’ll have to dislodge a few of the well-funded teal independents who swept the Liberals from their heartland seats at the 2022 election. But three years later, on the eve of election 2025, the teals’ financial muscle is only growing stronger.
Donations are flooding in for Josh Frydenberg killer Dr Monique Ryan.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Donations data for the 2023-24 financial year released by the Australian Electoral Commission on Monday revealed that each teal received a significant bump in donations compared with the previous year. And a significant bump in donors.
Even in the realm of political donations, there is a first among equals. Kooyong’s Josh Frydenberg killer Dr Monique Ryan received an astonishing $681,218 in donations from 486 donors, soaring past the $135,150 (from 220 donors) she got in 2022-23. Teal godfather Simon Holmes à Court’s Climate 200 was a notable funder, while Lisa Barlow, heiress to 7-11’s Australian dynasty, chipped in an easy $100,000 in October 2023. A Slurpee fund rather than a slush fund, we guess.
“These donations have ensured that my policy messages have reached the many new members of the Kooyong electorate – subsequent to the recent redistribution – through various media advertising platforms,” Ryan said.
Donations to Wentworth MP Allegra Spender jumped from $317,803 to $576,226 in the past financial year, thanks again to Climate 200 and companies linked to venture capitalist James Taylor and investor Fred Woollard, both regular teal donors.
Those Google and Meta ads Spender and Ryan have been forking out for aren’t going to pay for themselves!
Meanwhile, Zoe Daniel also cashed in with $374,010 in donations, a dramatic increase from the $12,468 she got the year before. That’s a heck of a lot of election corflutes.
Only fair to note that MPs from the major parties don’t have their individual donations listed.
But if this is how much the teals were getting during a non-election year, it’s no surprise that their mere existence still causes Liberals to foam at the mouth.
As for what’s driving the fundraising boom? One explanation came from a spokesperson for Spender, who told us: “Community members offered additional support to Allegra after the government reduced office resourcing to independent MPs.”
This too, it seems, is Albo’s fault.
Guardian raids
One of the leading lights of the great Guardian Australia’s Canberra bureau exodus was live federal politics blogger par excellence Amy Remeikis, who has now pitched up at the Australia Institute think tank.
On the first sitting day of the federal parliamentary calendar, the institute launched a live federal politics blog, with chief political analyst Remeikis at the helm.
Remeikis, for her part, gave her best wishes to the new Guardian team, telling us more eyes on democracy is a good thing.
Regular readers will recall there was what could only be described as a mass exodus in 2024. It kicked off with political editor Katharine Murphy’s exit to join Anthony Albanese’s office, before Remeikis, political reporter Daniel Hurst and veteran political photographer Mike Bowers departed in quick succession, capped off by chief political correspondent Paul Karp.
After a number of thinly veiled social media posts, this masthead reported Karp and Murphy’s replacement, Karen Middleton, had slung complaints at each other. In his exit, Karp claimed he was leaving with a “clean record”.
Finally, some welcome news for Guardian Australia editor-in-chief Lenore Taylor. Only a few weeks after Karp joined The Australian Financial Review as NSW political correspondent, she has managed to poach that paper’s Canberra bureau chief, Tom McIlroy, as his replacement.
CBD has learnt that members of the Guardian’s federal politics team flew to Sydney on Sunday ahead of the oncoming federal election campaign for scheduled planning meetings. And who knows, maybe a bonding session as well.
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