6pm, Saturday, 21 May: The nation has voted. Results are being counted. Clive’s $100million Freedom Fighting advertising budget is long gone. Scoop a mere $2million more from those unvaccinated coffers, a lesser man might have been tempted to pay out his $102million Nickel refinery liquidation liabilities. Not Palmer, no chance.
Meanwhile, Sydney Harbour shimmers through Kirribilli House drapes, the sitting PM settles a D.I.Y. dodgy curry with ukulele at the ready, whisking his Pentecostal soul to the April sun in Cuba. Neighbouring G-G barks, “Keep it down Scomo, I’m on the blower to the Queen!” In Camperdown housing commission, Albo gives his svelte 2022 physique a final once over in the mirror, tonight’s the night, make mum proud, so long, Maryanne.
In the country’s two most esteemed seats, Mackellar aspirant Dr Sophie Scamps arrives to Dee Why RSL, quietly confident, exhausted yet exuberant. And 7.5km southwest, Warringah incumbent Zali Steggall parks the electric campaign bus, proceeds into Balgowlah RSL, an ice-cold breeze from distant early season snowfalls warms her heart, adds a sporting spring in her step.
6:01pm: Antony Green perches front and centre on every screen around Australia, armed with stats, hard data, voting truths. Talking Heads are left to ponder… how did we get here?
“I’d been waiting 20 years for leadership on climate change,” Dr Sophie Scamps explains. “But the trigger for me to actually get moving was a conversation with my son and his friends, hearing the words, ‘you adults have failed us’. That was the switch. I realised I had to stop waiting for others to act.”
Sophie’s first instinct wasn’t to run for politics, but to take more action in her own life, and her family’s life. This gave birth to ‘Our Blue Dot’, a community network supporting individuals, families and communities across Australia to live cleaner and greener. “The change in language from ‘we should’ to ‘we will’ makes a huge difference. At Our Blue Dot we realised that just starting to act could turn despair into hope.”
With Our Blue Dot gaining momentum, and Voices of Mackellar’s Kitchen Table Conversations re-invigorating legions of voters who’d previously felt they weren’t being listened to, the groundswell of support for change was palpable. The time was now for Sophie to give it her all to win the federal seat.
Ms Steggall’s been here before, achieving the unthinkable in 2019 to relinquish Tony Abbott’s stranglehold on Warringah.
“I was motivated then by feeling disenfranchised by our federal representative,” Zali recalls. “The sense he really had no interest in listening to the views of the electorate. I was also motivated by the lack of female representation in our federal parliament.
“And then there was an overall concern in terms of policy areas like climate change and environment protection where we really weren’t progressing. The people of Warringah consistently tell me that climate change is their number one concern and polling around the country before the last election echoed that sentiment. I think my feelings struck a chord with the Warringah community who want their voices to be represented in Canberra.”
6:47pm, Balgowlah RSL: Zali’s home and hosed, Warringah safely hers, an emphatic victory. “Hearing that my team and I will be in Canberra to help Warringah for another 3 years was fantastic news. I was quite emotional. As I told my supporters on election night, they are the most unbelievable, amazing team. So joyous, joyful, and energetic, the heart and soul of the campaign.”
The night’s still young, but ominous signs of an LNP collapse are everywhere. Frydenberg’s sweating, the treasured Kooyong Classic shifting Ryan’s way. Wilson’s castaway, not even a slew of franking credits can secure Goldstein from Daniel’s grasp. Wentworth’s Sharma’s definitely looked calmer when in the thrall of an Eastern Suburbs independent Spender. And poor Trent’s Zimmerman frame is buckling, pushed to the Tink. Pundits across the board have never seen the blue ties crumble quite so violet as this before.
8:27pm, Dee Why RSL: Sophie’s making her way to all her supporters, thanking everyone, resisting the urge to believe the impossibility that she might just well have seized Mackellar from Liberal Party hands when, “My media guy told members of the team to reconvene in a separate room and as soon as we were there he burst out! Channel 9, Channel 7, ABC, they wanna call it!”
Dr Scamps had achieved a 17% swing, a history-making, medical miracle, and the cheer brought the house down when she set foot on stage. Tears, joy, disbelief, smiles ear to ear. “I felt confident in my heart we could win. I knew there was a huge sentiment in the community, people were ready for change. But there’s always that lingering doubt, can we be wrong? Are we in a bubble? You never know.”
Well, Antony Green’s number crunching knows all, and for the next three years the Northern Beaches will be represented in Canberra by two independent women. We ask, what’s next?
“The election has delivered the largest crossbench in memory, so we need to make sure the 1 in 3 Australians that didn’t vote for major parties are being heard,” says Zali. “Climate and integrity are core priorities. I will be reintroducing my Climate Change Bill and continuing to stand up for a Federal Integrity Commission with teeth. I’m hoping this 47th Parliament sets a cracking pace to make up for so much lost time.”
Sophie shares similar goals. “The core of reaching the right decisions is in building a strong democracy, so establishing a Federal Integrity Commission is crucial. I’ll be supporting Zali on stopping the lies in political advertising, seeking donation and lobby reform with Andrew Wilkie, ensuring the grants system is based on merit not pork barrelling. I’m also keen to best prepare for the health impacts which climate change is having, something currently not factored in. And providing the care and services needed to properly tackle the mental health crisis.”
