Australian news and politics live: Teals' party future as independents consider banding together
LIVE UPDATES: Although they are independent politicians without a political party, Teals have left the door wide open on banding together as a collective to tackle Pauline Hanson’s meteoric rise.
Scroll down for the latest news and updates.
Andrew Greene and Max Corstorphan are reporting live.
ASIO boss prepares to front Royal Commission
Australia’s domestic intelligence chief will give evidence to the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism on Monday, as tensions between ASIO and the Government intensify over counter-terrorism funding.
The inquiry has received more than 12,000 submissions since being established following last year’s Bondi massacre.
Fifteen innocent people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025.
Mike Burgess, ASIO’s director-general, is among five witnesses due to give evidence on Monday.
‘Worst kept secret’: Liberals on Climate 200 teals party
Jane Hume, the Liberal Party Deputy Leader, says reports of a teal party, unifying independents as one, is the “worst-kept secret in Canberra”.
On Sunday, the SMH reported that teal independents Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall were leading efforts to get the unaligned politicians aligned under a new party.
“For a number of years, we’ve been saying that if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it’s a duck,” Senator Hume told Sky News on Monday morning.
“The teals have been a party since they began, they’ve had the same funding sources, they’ve had the same campaign teams, they’ve worn the same colours, but worse than that, they had the same slogan, and the slogan was about integrity,” she added.
Questioning how independent teals are in Parliament, Senator Hume said: “I’m sure it’s great news for the Greens and for the Labor Party, because let’s face it, the teals have supported their positions around 70 per cent of the time.”
Teal agenda? Independents seek alliance against One Nation
Teals, as independent Federal politicians, could soon sit together under a new party, as reports grow of a push to cooperate as one against One Nation.
On Sunday, independent Senator David Pocock, who rejects having a Teal label despite receiving backing from Teal backer Climate 200, said the “big question” for independents was to band together or remain unaligned amidst the “current political climate” as Pauline Hanson continues to make a run for dominance.
“I think there’s so many people in politics for the right reasons and when you’re in there, you want to say, well, how do we actually ensure people can elect people that are going to come here and really deal with the root causes of the problems we’re facing, because we haven’t seen that,” Senator Pocock said on ABC’s Insiders program.
“At the moment, the thing I’d love to see at the next election is every electorate actually (having) a viable independent, someone from the community.”
