Tony Windsor (left) and Rob Oakeshott (Images: AAP/Dan Himbrechts; AAP/Paul Miller)

Climate 200, the nonpartisan group trying to elect independent MPs to break the policy impasse on climate change, has appointed former independent MPs Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott to its advisory council. 

Windsor and Oakeshott have 39 years of parliamentary experience between them and famously formed two-thirds of the “Three Amigos” crossbench during Labor’s period of minority government under Julia Gillard from 2010 to 2013. 

Climate 200, set up in 2019 in part by environmental campaigner Simon Holmes à Court, will offer arm’s-length assistance in money and advice to community groups looking to run independent candidates in crucial marginal seats at the next election. 

It has already raised almost $1.7m from 1700 donors and will target seats like North Sydney, Wentworth and Mackellar in Sydney and Goldstein and Flinders in Melbourne; $285,000 has been donated in just the past week. 

Independent polling shows these seats have a large number of disaffected Liberal voters who would not vote Labor but who would vote for an independent who promised action on climate change and political integrity. 

A few weeks ago, the group announced that it would match donations up to $100,000 to the North Sydney campaign of businesswoman Kylea Tink — that money is now rolling in, a spokesman says. 

Windsor and Oakeshott said yesterday they were there to help independents win elections. Windsor, 70, spent 22 years in NSW state and federal seats and was part of two minority governments. 

He tells Crikey that Climate 200 was “looking as though it was starting to plug into some real money. The reality is that you can’t do it without money.”

Being part of Gillard’s minority government — which passed 585 pieces of legislation in three years — showed that politics could be done differently, he says. 

“Apart from cutting carbon emissions, that Parliament set up the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, which have contributed to the growth of the clean energy sector,” he said.

“It also established the Parliamentary Budget Office to provide independent advice and analysis of government finances. Without the PBO we would not know, for example, that some of Australia’s biggest corporations held on to $13 billion worth of taxpayers’ money to which they were not entitled, courtesy of JobKeeper.”

The New England farmer says Gillard’s minority government disempowered the “elites” in the executive arm of the government: “There are really only three or four people who make all the decisions and then all the underlings fall into line.”

Having a minority government empowers all members of Parliament because the executive does not have control, he says. In reality, the executive runs riot and the rest of them “don’t have a clue about what’s going on”.

“Independents are largely good people — they can’t all be Bob Katter.”

Oakeshott, 51, was in NSW state politics from 1996-2008 as a National Party member and independent and then won the federal seat of Lyne as an independent in 2008, holding it until 2013. 

Both major parties have failed the Australian electorate on climate change, he says: “The time for talking is over. We do not have time on our side. Australia’s elected representatives have now wasted close to a decade failing to take the necessary action on climate change. It is now or never.”

He tells Crikey that an independent member “can deliver substantial progress on complex issues. A big lesson of the recent period is that political parties are struggling with the question of whether they are fit for purpose. Head office is all about donations and has a fixation with polling and these are getting in the way of Australia progressing.”

There is value in voting for an independent in 2022 so these policy issues get priority: “These are big and complex challenges and the political parties are letting them down. It’s rational to look elsewhere.” 

His input would be as a “sounding board”, showing where some of the traps and opportunities were in the policy area and at the ballot box. 

“Coalition MPs like Jason Falinski, Angus Taylor, Dave Sharma and Trent Zimmerman have had their chance,” he said. “When it comes to the crunch, they vote just like Barnaby Joyce.

“It is time they were moved aside by enthusiastic and effective independents ready to seize the opportunity provided by pathfinders like Zali Steggall and Helen Haines.”