The Warringah MP has been praised for calling out the Coalition’s racism. But she’s far from a “Green in Gucci” when it comes to Gaza.
“For too long, we’ve been bullied into not calling out divisive and racist policy out of fear,” Zali Steggall tells me, a week after she demanded Peter Dutton “stop being racist” during a debate over his calls for a ban on Palestinians refugees fleeing Gaza. Just like during the Voice referendum, Labor, while critical of the opposition leader, has yet again been dancing around the term this week, calling him everything from “divisive” to “nasty”.
“The unwillingness to call a spade a spade allows it to continue to fester,” Steggall says. “I think that is incredibly dangerous.”
Steggall, a former barrister, doesn’t think she should’ve had to withdraw her original comment, though she did so when asked to “assist the House”. She’s since had a conversation with the speaker, pointing out that “racist” is not a slur but an ordinary term with a clear definition.
Steggall may or may not be the original “teal” (that title could also go to Kerryn Phelps), but she knocked off Tony Abbott in 2019 and was the first of this new wave to run on the blue-green colour that has since come to define them, meaning she is likely the reason we now use the term “teals”.
She is also the first among them to be reelected, growing her already impressive margin in 2022, making her formerly safe Liberal seat a safe independent seat.
Perhaps this is what gives Steggall the confidence she displayed last Thursday when she demanded Dutton “stop being racist”. The two-term teal has since doubled down, telling outlets she stands by the label with regards to the proposed Palestine visa ban, prompting threats of legal action from the opposition leader and fierce condemnation from conservative media, which is, as per the playbook, more concerned about accusations of racism than racism itself.
Steggall, who at the time of her comment had been trying to share the story of a Palestinian man who came to Warringah to learn surf lifesaving, wasn’t planning to call Dutton racist — though that was clearly the inference of her speech. It was the opposition’s ongoing heckling that prompted her rebuke.
“The allegations they were throwing at me were just plain racist,” says Steggall, via Zoom, referring to Coalition jibes that she was supporting rapists and terrorists. She has since suggested their entire position is “inherently racist”, further incensing the opposition.
“Why is it okay to accuse other politicians of antisemitism but not okay to draw the conclusion of racism?” she asks, noting that the Coalition has been allowed to describe the Greens as antisemitic “with impunity”.
Steggall is quick to clarify that she doesn’t agree with the Greens, claiming they are “polarising this issue as well”. The Coalition has nevertheless spent much of the week painting her as essentially a party member — a not unfamiliar tactic. Dutton has labelled her a “zealot”, while Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes said the teals were simply “Greens in a Gucci jacket”. Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie clearly felt she had struck gold when she noticed teal was next to green on the colour wheel — as if this wasn’t a large part of why the climate-focused small-l liberals had chosen it.
It is, of course, ludicrous to suggest Steggall is akin to a Green on Gaza. Though she is critical of Labor for failing to call “a spade a spade” when it comes to racism, she and the teals have generally backed the government on its mild calls for a ceasefire, focusing mostly on the need for “social cohesion” (Kylea Tink and Sophie Scamps have been slightly to the left, Allegra Spender and Zoe Daniel further to the right).
Steggall’s most recent statement on the matter agreed with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, accusing the Greens and the Coalition of engaging in “wedge politics” for political gain.
I ask Steggall whether she believes the government has been too willing to pander to the Coalition on this, and whether it ought to take a stronger stand to protect the lives of people in Gaza. The independent MP offers up a long and meandering answer, focused mostly on how complex the conflict is and the fact Australia doesn’t carry much weight in it, expressing concern about both antisemitism and Islamophobia. It’s a far cry from the confidence she displays in calling out the Coalition’s visa stance.
That said, Steggall isn’t particularly bothered by the criticism currently coming from the Coalition — mostly via “Sky News and 2GB”, she notes. Nor does she place much stock in AFR reports of a “rift” amid the North Shore teals, with Steggall and Tink putting forward differing proposals than Scamps in the AEC’s electorate review.
“That’s Phil Coorey doing his usual mud-slinging,” Steggall says, adding that she has asked the AFR political editor to clarify his stories. “There is no rift. I think all this shows is we’re all independent and we’re not told by anybody as to what line or what view to take on an issue, including the boundary redistributions.”
Other sources agree, labelling the reports “a storm in a teacup” over a minor difference of opinion. Certainly the NSW teals have been a united front in recent days, holding a joint press conference to call out the opposition’s aggressive behaviour, which the speaker says only increases when crossbenchers speak.
There’s no doubt this was part of what caused Steggall to snap last week. Coalition MPs, she says, “have this pathological need to interrupt, speak over you and try to bully you out of the debate.” And it’s only gotten uglier as the crossbench has grown.
“There’s a frustration in the opposition that they are not the only voice in town,” Steggall surmises. “They don’t welcome varied debate or different views, for the Parliament to be a place of debate that reflects Australian society.”
Steggall makes the point that words matter. Teals are not “hard Greens,” as much as Sky News might like them to be. And the Dutton-led opposition is continuing to be “racist”, whether or not the Albanese government is willing to say it.
