Zali Steggall happy as an independent, for now

Independent MP Zali Steggall is not ruling out a switch to the Liberal Party before the next election.

Zali Steggall outside Parliament House yesterday. Picture: AAP

Independent MP Zali Steggall is not ruling out a switch to the Liberal Party before the next election but has expressed scepticism about the need for a religious discrimination act.

The Warringah MP, a former Olympic skier who defeated Tony Abbott in the blue-ribbon Sydney seat, said being an independent gave her freedom to speak about issues important to constituents.

When asked if she would rule out joining the government benches in this term of parliament, Ms Steggall said: “I am not going to be engaging in any of that conversation at this point. I’m not going to comment on it because no matter what I answer or what I say it will be interpreted one way or the other.

“At this point I will be true to the electorate and that is the basis of which I am here.

“I feel strongly as an independent I have an opportunity to speak out on issues of which people in the party can’t.”

With the government set to push for a religious discrimination act later this year, Ms Steggall said she was yet to be convinced of the need for one. “I don’t accept there is a case for change yet. I am not convinced and so I will need to wait and see what is suggested,” Ms Steggall said.

Ms Steggall, who won a bronze medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics, said the Israel Folau case was an issue of contractual obligation rather than freedom of speech. “From the Rugby Australia’s point of view it is a contractual dispute,” she said.

“I think there is a responsibility when you are in the public profile over the impact of what you do and say will have on others, especially the vulnerable.”

She will push the government to take stronger action on climate change, declaring the Coalition could not hit its 26 per cent Paris target without the “appalling suggestion” of carrying over credits from the Kyoto Protocol. “Twenty-six per cent is not a strong enough target and I don’t think we are going to meet that,” she said.

Ms Steggall, who supports the government’s income tax package, will also push for a federal anti-corruption body and a tightening of political advertising regulations.

“Both sides of politics have a duty to restore faith in the political system,” she said. “There is a real necessity for tightening the political advertising regulations. I think we need a ‘minimum of truth’. The standards we apply in the business world, we should be able to accept from political parties.”