Dave Sharma (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was intrigued to read in the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this month about an interview that Peter FitzSimons—he of the bandana—did with Simon Holmes a Court, talking about what his movement would be targeting at the next election. Simon Holmes a Court was quoted as telling Peter FitzSimons that they will supporting 20 to 25 campaigns in total. Now, he claims of course not to be running a party, but then he proudly boasts about how many candidates he'll be supporting in the election!

It prompted me to have a look at the record of the teals since they got in—and I acknowledge that I was a victim of that political movement at the last election; I'm not going to pretend that that didn't happen! Remember how they campaigned on ending fossil fuel subsidies and lowering emissions but then voted for the Labor government's energy price relief plan which gave billions in subsidies to fossil fuel companies? Remember how they campaigned on integrity but how we then heard they went cap in hand to the Australian Financial Review bureau to beg that their patron and donor be kept out of the AFR's power index? Remember how they promised to clean up politics but then in their disclosures we learnt that they'd spent $2 million or more on their elections—and just yesterday they voted in the House against the electoral reform bill that is designed to keep big money out of politics and stop large donors from buying electorates?

Then there is this funny anecdote. A group called the Voices of Bennelong—this is a well-known teal movement—set up its Twitter account in August 2021, retweeting Monique Ryan, Kylea Tink, Simon Holmes a Court and Zali Steggall. It went quiet in April 2024, but then in June the Voices of Berowra Twitter account emerges. You can check the records: the Voices of Bennelong has now become the Voices of Berowra. Why? Because there's a sitting Labor member in Bennelong and a sitting Liberal member in Berowra. This reveals what this party is all about, and they should declare themselves as such. (Time expired)