Teals eye party structure to fill Liberal vacuum and counter One Nation

“I’ve always been open to having conversations to look … [at] how do we evolve and grow the movement? There’s been significant changes, right? I think, as an athlete, you always have to meet the field of play. Staying still is not how you keep winning,” said Steggall, a former Winter Olympian who entered parliament after defeating Tony Abbott at the 2019 election.

The second motivation goes to one of the perpetual challenges facing those on the crossbench: how to be relevant.

Labor’s 94 seats in the House of Representatives and the composition of the Senate has reduced the independents to largely peripheral figures in this term of parliament, with the exception of the high-profile David Pocock.

Teal sources believe that forming a party could give them greater prominence and influence and a bigger voice to counter the One Nation megaphone.

The party that Steggall envisages would be unnecessary if the Liberal party hadn’t vacated the political middle ground, leaving what former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull described as a “vacuum” for the teals to fill.

A new centrist party could provide an exit route for moderate Liberals – both MPs and supporters – who no longer feel at home in what the party of Menzies has become.

Guardian Australia has learned a small group of former Liberal members participated in a Zoom call with independents earlier this year amid a growing sense of dread about the state of their party.

The discussion didn’t lead anywhere. It was clear to the ex-Liberals on the call that the independents weren’t a “homogenous” group that would fit neatly in a party.

But their appetite for something different has not been diminished.

“The country we love is in decline and we need a fresh, clear vision to move us forward,” said Hannah March, a former ministerial staffer in the Turnbull and Morrison governments who now works as a barrister in Adelaide.

“We need to ask ourselves whether we want One Nation to be His Majesty’s loyal opposition in Canberra and, if the answer is ‘no’, do something.”

For her part, Steggall denies courting Liberals and there is no evidence to suggest that any are preparing to swap blue for teal.

A “teal” party might never be formed.

But the fact it is even being discussed speaks volumes about how rapidly Australia’s political landscape is shifting.