Reports that Allegra Spender and staff of Zoe Daniel sought to influence the Australian Financial Review’s Power List to help their billionaire donor, and founder of Climate 200, Simon Holmes a Court, should concern all Australians.
Reports suggest Simon Holmes a Court helped funnel $13 million to Teal campaigns at the last election through Climate 200.
Before the 2022 Federal Election, Simon Holmes a Court promised Australians at the National Press Club that his bankrolling of the Teal independents came with “no strings attached”. Should these reports prove true, that commitment is clearly now in question.
Allegra Spender and Zoe Daniel have serious questions to answer about this matter.
This is a test of their integrity.
What conversations did these members of parliament have with this billionaire? Did he ask them to seek to influence the AFR Power List? Did they instruct their staff to lobby journalists on this issue?
These Teal members of parliament were elected on a platform of independence, integrity and transparency – how does directly lobbying, or directing staff to lobby journalists, on behalf of one of their biggest donors fit in that equation?
This is not the first time the Teals have failed to meet the standards they set others:
- They said they would lift the tone of Parliament. Yet we have seen Zali Steggall launch slurs on the floor of the Parliament – calling people ‘racists’ and accusing people of threatening her.
- They said they would maintain their integrity. Yet despite at the election promising to end fossil fuel subsidies, voted for a multi-billion subsidy for the coal industry. We even saw Zoe Daniel try to mislead her own community about the issue.
- They said they want to lift the standard of democracy yet have stayed silent on Climate 200 bankrolling a person all but pretending to be a member of parliament.
There cannot be one standard for the Teals and one for everyone else.
The Teals said they would change Canberra but Canberra has changed them.