Labor’s Housing Minister Clare O’Neil is star attraction at teal MP Monique Ryan’s pre-election event

Labor’s Housing Minister Clare O’Neil will be the star attraction at one of teal MP Monique Ryan’s key pre-election events, as the crossbenchers go on the offensive against Peter Dutton.

Kooyong teal MP Monique Ryan in a social video attacking the Coalition.

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Labor’s Housing Minister Clare O’Neil will be the star attraction at one of teal MP Monique Ryan’s key pre-election events, as the crossbenchers go on the offensive against Peter Dutton and his attempts to win back the Liberal heartland electorates lost in 2022.

Just two days after launching a strong social media attack labelling the Opposition Leader’s housing policy as “backward”, Dr Ryan will host Ms O’Neil at a forum for Kooyong voters to discuss housing.

Dr Ryan’s recent criticism of a string of opposition policies on social media echoed that of other teal MPs around the country, and raises questions about whether the teals, who represent long-time Liberal electorates, would side with Labor over the Coalition in the event of a hung parliament after the upcoming federal election.

Friday’s event, to be hosted at Dr Ryan’s electorate office and advertised on her social media accounts, provides 20 prospective first home buyers from her electorate of Kooyong in Melbourne’s east with direct access to Ms O’Neil.

“The housing crisis is out of control in this country and it has been for some time,” Ms Ryan said in an Instagram video spruiking the event.

“As your independent member for Kooyong, I have promised that I will provide a direct line of communication to the government, that I’ll amplify your concerns and I’ll hold them to account for their actions.”

An Instagram reel of Peter Dutton posted by Monique Ryan.

On Wednesday, Dr Ryan posted a video on social media attacking Mr Dutton’s pledge to allow Australians to take $50,000 out of their superannuation to buy their first home.

Dr Ryan said that allowing young people to dip into their super meant they would be “robbing their future to pay for their present”.

“That will increase the price of housing,” she said.

“It will have an impact on the Australian budget.

“Sounds backward? Yep, tick.”

Fellow Victorian teal MP Zoe Daniel has also attacked the Liberals in multiple social media posts in recent days, accusing the party of “dirty tricks” and “lying” in political advertising.

“A vote for Peter Dutton’s ­Liberal Party is a vote for more _inaction on climate AND cost-of-living,” the member for Goldstein wrote in a post to Instagram on Tuesday.

In NSW, Zali Steggall, the teal MP for Warringah, on Wednesday called on Mr Dutton to “come clean” following an ABC report that she said exposed ­concerns about the Coalition’s climate policy. “Beware the fine print on ­Coalition’s climate plans,” Ms Steggall wrote on X.

“Is the opposition looking to change the fine print on Australia’s climate commitments, and hoping voters won’t notice?”

This followed an attack on Mr Dutton last Tuesday, in which Ms Steggall wrote: “Dutton’s plan to break up insurers is a populist stunt that ignores the real issue- climate risk.”

Sophie Scamps, the teal member for Mackellar, criticised “really irresponsible behaviour from the Liberal Party,” on Wednesday following a report the opposition suggested it could sack the chair of the ­Climate Change Authority over criticism of its nuclear energy proposal. This came after Dr Scamps called the Coalition’s proposed tax breaks on business lunches a “lightweight, pre-election sugar hit” earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Kate Chaney, the teal MP for Curtin in Western Australia, criticised the Coalition’s nuclear policy on social media in recent months. “Scientists say nuclear doesn’t stack up for Australia, but some politicians think they know better …” Ms Chaney wrote last December.

Dr Ryan told The Australian that Friday’s meeting was “an opportunity for prospective first home buyers from Kooyong to challenge the Housing Minister directly about how hard it is for them; about how insuperable the difficulty of home ownership is for young Australians in 2025”.

“In the last three years, I’ve spoken or corresponded with many community members regarding their concerns around housing availability and affordability,” Dr Ryan said.

“I’ve taken those concerns to the minister on numerous occasions, and she’s now agreed to talk with young people directly.

“It’s not a public event, but a roundtable conversation for members of the Kooyong community to discuss their personal circumstances with the minister – their privacy should be respected. The media has not been invited.”

Ms O’Neil’s electorate of Hotham borders Dr Ryan’s following an electoral redistribution.

Opposition housing spokesperson Michael Sukkar was not invited to the event but Dr Ryan said she would be happy to host a roundtable with him in the future.

“I’m sure the young people of Kooyong would like to hear from the shadow housing minister about how he plans to make housing more affordable for them,” Dr Ryan said.

In her social media video on Wednesday, Dr Ryan attacked other Coalition policies, including public service job cuts and nuclear energy, which she said was “too slow, too expensive and will increase our reliance on ageing coal power plants which will almost certainly go out of service causing blackouts”.