By Mary Ward
Environment minister James Griffin is the first target of the Climate 200 group for the March state election, after teal candidates swept to victory throughout the country in this year’s federal poll.
Simon Holmes à Court’s crowdfunding group has backed independent challenger Joeline Hackman for the state seat of Manly, hoping the environmental concerns which spurred local federal teal victories for Zali Steggall in Warringah and Sophie Scamps in Mackellar will carry through to the polls next year.
Holmes à Court last week described the resurrection of a native forestry bill which would have reignited the so-called “koala wars” which nearly split the Coalition in 2020 as well as plans to raise the Warragamba Dam Wall and the controversial appointment of a former Sydney Hydro boss to the premier’s office as a “gift” to the teals in next year’s NSW election.
Climate 200 backed independent candidate Joeline Hackman is hoping to ride the teal wave into parliament for Manly in the New South Wales state election.Credit: Oscar Colman
After endorsing 19 candidates at the federal election, nine of whom were elected, Climate 200 is supporting four candidates at the Victorian state election next weekend.
Concerns about the major parties green credentials have galvanised potential independent candidates, with Climate 200 in discussions with other NSW community groups in the city’s north and east.
“We have a representative here who is padlocked to Perrottet and the Nationals,” said Hackman, a lifelong beaches local and freelance business consultant who founded the 2000-strong Northern Beaches War on Waste community group, inspired by the ABC TV show.
Asked if he was concerned by voters’ perceptions of his party’s environmental credentials, Griffin, who inherited the historically Liberal seat from former premier Mike Baird, said the government had “a strong track record of protecting our environment and tackling climate change” and its plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 was “one of the most ambitious ... in the country”.
“There is much more to do, and I’ll fight every day to ensure our environment is protected and left in a better state for future generations,” he said, promising “further ambitious policies for our environment over coming months”.
Other independent climate-focused groups are finalising candidates after two of Griffin’s fellow moderates, Infrastructure Minister Rob Stokes and Health Minister Brad Hazzard, announced they would not recontest Pittwater and Wakehurst, respectively.
Rebecca Clarke, spokesperson for Independent Pittwater, said it was “likely” it would put up a candidate, but their identity was not finalised.
Clarke, who was a volunteer campaign manager for Sophie Scamps in the Federal seat of Mackellar, said the events of the past week were “just another example of the control the National Party has over the Liberal Party”.
“It’s reflecting the same problem we had at the federal election,” she said. “The community of Mackellar wasn’t happy with those arrangements in the federal sphere, and I very much doubt the community of Pittwater is happy with them at a state level.”
Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan has been tipped as the most likely Wakehurst’s Independent candidate, although the group’s spokesperson – Sarah Baker, who was on Regan’s council ticket – said they were still interviewing “a few” contenders.
Also north of the bridge, the North Sydney Independents group is finalising plays for North Shore and Lane Cove. The group’s co-founder Kristen Lock, who campaigned for Kylea Tink, said the process was in its “final stages” with announcements expected next month.
Each of the groups – a mix of federal teal campaign volunteers and new recruits – said they were in ongoing discussions with Climate 200, and hoped to align themselves if their community candidates’ policies aligned with its objectives.
Despite her website already adopting a teal colour scheme, development-focused independent Vaucluse candidate Karen Freyer is also still only in talks with Climate 200.
Environment-focused independent Larissa Penn, who challenged Liberal Tim James in February’s Willoughby byelection following former premier Gladys Berejiklian’s resignation, has registered although not yet announced her intention to run.
Hackman, whose two primary school-aged sons attend a local school and are involved with South Steyne Surf Life Saving Club, said Manly was “not being heard” on issues including native logging and coastal erosion.
If elected, Hackman said she would fight against new fracking coal and gas approvals as well as support the NSW nurses and midwives union’s push for changes to staff-to-patient ratios.
Byron Fay, executive director of Climate 200, said it was excited to back Hackman.
“The community campaign absolutely meets our criteria for support — strong community backing, a solid team, and a great candidate who can win,” he said, adding Climate 200 was keen to hear from other candidates campaigning on “a science-based response to the climate crisis, restoring integrity to politics, and gender equality”.
The Manly Independents campaign believe polling, commissioned by Climate 200 and conducted by Redbridge Group, indicates desire for change. The phone survey of 750 people placed Griffin’s primary vote at 31 per cent, while support for a hypothetical climate-focused independent was 39 per cent, with a margin of error of 4.5 per cent.
Like Scamps, Hackman has ties to the area’s health workers. Her husband is an anaesthetist and she founded the Feed Our Medics meal service during the pandemic. (Both Scamps and North Sydney teal MP Kylea Tink volunteered with the organisation during their campaigns, but Hackman said she had no further involvement with the federal election.)
While the federal teal campaigns mobilised finances of more than $10 million– Wentworth’s Allegra Spender campaign spend topped the list at $2.1 million – state election spending caps are comparably smaller: third-party campaigners are limited to $644,300, with campaigning for an individual electorate capped at $26,700 and rules restricting campaigners working together to exceed these caps.
Commenting that major parties have “a large number of publicly funded benefits, whereas independent challengers start with nothing” and “donation and spending caps entrench this uneven playing field”, Fay was dismissive of the impact.
“The federal election showed that when the right team gets behind a strong independent local leader, the community can mobilise on a scale the parties can only dream about — and that can make all the difference,” he said.
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