Federal Election 2022: Climate, integrity to drive 200 gang in hung parliament

Climate 200 candidates say they will support the strongest party on climate and integrity in a hung parliament.

Monique Ryan, a Melbourne neurologist, is facing off against Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong, held with a margin of 6.4 per cent. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

Climate 200 candidates are clarifying they will support the strongest party on climate and integrity in a hung parliament, with Josh Frydenberg’s independent challenger in Kooyong to be swayed by whoever has a more ambitious 2030 emissions-reduction plan.

The key independent candidates running against Liberals in inner-city Melbourne seats, Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel, are both campaigning for a 60 per cent 2030 target, while Allegra Spender, who is aiming to pick up the Liberal held seat of Wentworth in eastern Sydney, said she was willing to “negotiate in terms of ­climate, integrity and a future-­focused economy”.

Dr Ryan, a Melbourne neurologist who is facing off against the Treasurer in his seat of Kooyong, held with a margin of 6.4 per cent, told The Australian: “My decision to grant supply to one party or ­another will be ­informed in part by their position on their 2030 emissions-reduction target.”

The comments are a boon for Anthony Albanese, who has stumbled during the first week of the campaign on the economy and border protection, but pledged to make an anti-corruption commission with retrospective powers one of his top priorities. Labor will aim to pass legislation to establish the corruption watchdog by the end of the year if it wins office.

Zoe Daniel is contesting the seat of Goldstein as an independent. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

The Opposition Leader has also committed to a 43 per cent mid-term emissions reduction target that is significantly more ­ambitious than the Coalition’s goal of a 26-28 per cent cut by 2030.

Scott Morrison has stood firm against calls to pursue a stronger model for a federal corruption watchdog, with the Coalition saying Labor’s proposal would lead to show trials, while the economy, jobs and national security were more important priorities.

Ms Daniel, a former ABC journalist challenging Liberal MP Tim Wilson in Goldstein, said “a ­national anti-corruption commission should have the power to ­investigate past rorts as long as they meet the tests determined in the legislation”. She also said both major party leaders “know my position on climate: a cut of 60 per cent in carbon emissions by 2030”.

A former ABC Washington correspondent, Ms Daniel did not say whether she supported the AUKUS trilateral security partnership between Australia, the US and the UK under which Australia would negotiate the delivery of new nuclear submarines and ­hypersonic missiles.

“The merits of AUKUS have yet to be determined particularly whether it will be as central to our safety and security as ANZUS has proved,” Ms Daniel said.

Kylea Tink, targeting Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman’s North Sydney seat, said she would speak openly to both parties in a hung parliament on “faster action on ­climate (and) the establishment of an integrity ­commission with teeth”.

She also said she wanted action to “deliver a forward-focused eco­n­omy, including a commitment to manage a fair and equitable transition away from fossil fuel subsidies” and “meaningful steps to deliver true equality for women, First Nations (people) and those seeking asylum in Australia”.

Speaking in Perth on Monday, the Prime Minister warned that a vote for the independents running against ­Liberal MPs would throw the parliament into “chaos and ­uncertainty”.

“They are targeting a number of Liberal seats and you just don’t know what you’re going to get,” he said. “You just don’t know. You don’t know who they’re going to support, who they’re not going to support.

“You don’t know what their policies are. They are not costed. They don’t explain what they’ll do on the economy.”

Mr Morrison said it was hard to call them independents because they were “only running against Liberal members”.

“It’s not like these teal independents are running against Labor Party members. They’re not doing that.”

He did not rule out doing deals with them if there was a hung parliament, although he said his objective was for the Coalition to win government in its own right.

“I am anticipating the Liberals will be returned because they are doing a great job on the ground in those seats,” Mr Morrison said.

Under Labor’s proposed model for a federal watchdog, the commission would have retrospective powers to look into allegations of corruption under previous governments.

It would be given a broad jurisdiction to investigate ministers, public servants, statutory office holders and government agencies; hold public hearings; commence inquiries on its own initiative; and be overseen by a joint standing committee.  

Dr Ryan said she would push for a federal ICAC to “uncover serious and systemic past failures” if elected in May. Under her preferred model, she would seek a commission that could hold public hearings if in the public interest.

“It would have the freedom to investigate public decision-making (including the conduct of politicians, public servants and third parties); initiate its own investigations; hold public hearings when this is in the public interest; receive referrals from the public; and report its findings publicly,” Dr Ryan said.

Ms Spender, the daughter of the late fashion designer Carla Zampatti, also backed calls for an independent federal integrity commission, but stopped short of saying it should be retrospective. “A federal integrity commission should be independent, and decisions about which matters it should look at should be left to the commissioner,” she said.